


A Light That Cannot Die

by mixtapesandsunsets



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV), A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Out of Character, Shameless Smut, olivia is everyone's mom and you all know it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-04-28 01:04:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14438124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mixtapesandsunsets/pseuds/mixtapesandsunsets
Summary: Jacquelyn Scieszka does not call a taxi for Olivia Caliban the day they meet.





	1. A Feeling You Thought You'd Forgotten

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I just got done with all my exams and for some reason instead of doing something Good I spent hours writing this. It's 100% out of character, there isn't really a plot yet, and it's full of (unnecessary?) sexual tension/encounters. Anyways I'm obsessed with this pairing and I'm suffering so enjoy!

Jacquelyn watched the woman in front of her as she talked. She was upset, she could tell, but was trying not to show it.

“I should just go back to Prufrock Prep and beg for my job back,” she said, her hands clenched into fists so tightly Jacquelyn knew her nails would leave marks. Jacquelyn reached out and rested her hand on the woman’s arm. She looked down, surprised at the contact.

“No. There is more important work to be done than that at Prufrock Preparatory School. We need you, Olivia.”

Olivia’s head snapped up sharply to look at Jacquelyn’s face. “How do you know who I am? And who is ‘we’?”

Jacquelyn gave her an unfathomable smile and lowered her voice so Mr. Poe would be unable to hear them from his desk across the room. “I can’t talk about it here. I take my lunch in 30 minutes. Would you be willing to wait until then?”

Olivia regarded her carefully, mindful of all the treachery she had witnessed in the last few days. “Why should I trust you?”

Jacquelyn’s smile turned almost sad then. “I know you have very little reason to trust anyone right now. But remember that in a world too often governed by corruption and arrogance, it can be difficult to stay true to one’s philosophical and literary principles. Our work will help you stay true to yours, and with your help we can save those children.”

Olivia’s gaze hardened. “Where shall I meet you?”

Jacquelyn reached out and set a hand on her shoulder. “The park bench next to the fountain one block over. I’ll bring lunch.”

She wasn’t sure why, but in response Olivia set her hand atop the hand that rested on her shoulder. She nodded. “I’ll be there.”

And without a backward glance, she whirled around and exited Mulctuary Money Management, her heart pounding and her shoulder warm from the contact. It wasn’t until she was walking through town that she realized she hadn’t even gotten the mysterious woman’s name.

\----------

Olivia sat on the bench, two iced teas sat on the bench next to her. She watched children play in the fountain, and wondered how long ago were the Baudelaires allowed tolook so carefree. She smoothed her hand over her breast pocket, which contained a commonplace book filled with what little information she had on their current situation. She did not bother to take it out.

She looked back out to the street and saw a woman in a grey pencil skirt and a matching top with a bow walking quickly toward her, carrying a paper bag. When she reached Olivia, Olivia picked up the teas and allowed her to sit down.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself before. I am Jacquelyn Scieszka.” She reached out a hand for Olivia to take.

“Well hello, Jacquelyn. Olivia Caliban, although it seems as if you already knew that.” Olivia said, squeezing her hand gently as she shook it. “It’s nice to properly meet you. ”

Jacquelyn smiled. “And you. I brought us some salads, I hope that’s okay.”

“That’s wonderful! Thank you. I grabbed some ice teas. I wasn’t sure how sweet you would like it, so I didn’t add any but I have sugar in my bag.”

“I prefer it plain, so this is perfect, thank you. I have 45 minutes for lunch, so we’ll have to be quick. I am a member of an organization called VFD, as was Larry, whom you met at Prufrock.”

She went on from there, telling her about VFD’s purpose and origin, the schism, the Baudelaire and Quagmire tragedies, and all that they knew of various individuals’ involvement. About 30 minutes later, as Olivia scribbled into her commonplace book, Jacquelyn finished telling her about where she thought the kids were now.

“If you’re still willing to help the Baudelaires and the Quagmires, we have a plan. It will be extremely dangerous, however, and I urge you to not make this decision lightly.”

“I’ll do it. Trust me, I'm not taking any of this lightly. I feel that this is where I am meant to be, and I want to help these kids however I can.”

Jacquelyn nodded seriously. “You are a very honorable woman, Olivia Caliban.”

Olivia smiled at her, a little bit sadly. “Thank you, Jacquelyn Scieszka. I am simply finally able to stay true to my philosophical and literary principles, and I am grateful for the opportunity to do so, dangerous as it may be.”

Jacquelyn smiled in return. “I’m glad to hear it. I’d be happy to go over the plan with you later. Are you staying in the city tonight?”

Olivia’s eyes widened. “Oh dear, I don’t know! I haven’t even considered that! I suppose I’ll go search for a hotel, and I can let you know where I end up.”

“No need. You can stay with me, if you’re comfortable with that.”

Olivia bit her lip. The thought of staying with a beautiful woman was wonderful, even if it was only so she could explain the life threatening task Olivia was to perform.

“I would like that. Thank you, Jacquelyn.”

“It’s no problem. I get out of work at 5, do you think you’ll be able to occupy yourself until then?”

“Absolutely. I’ve heard this city has a wonderful library.” 

Jacquelyn couldn’t help but smile at the way Olivia gazed off in the distance, a soft expression on her face as she thought about an afternoon in a library.

“Here,” she said, reaching into her wallet, “take my library card. It’ll get you access to any book in that library you could desire, including the ones in the locked cases.”

Olivia’s smile widened as she reached for the card. “Oh, thank you! You are too kind to me!”

Jacquelyn looked down. “We all need a little more kindness these days.”

Olivia set a hand on Jacquelyn’s knee, squeezing it ever so softly. “Well Jacquelyn, you are the kindest person I’ve met in longer than I care to think about. I look forward to seeing you tonight.” 

Jacquelyn grabbed her hand and stood up, smiling once again. “And I you. I’ll meet you in the library’s lobby when I’m done with work and we can walk together.” With one last squeeze of Olivia’s hand, she left.

That smile stayed on her face all the way back to her desk.

\-----  
Jacquelyn bounded up the concrete stairs to the library’s entrance, feeling more excited than she had in a long, long while. She had been trying in vain for the last few hours to calm herself down, as she knew there was no real reason to feel this way. Finally, she had given up and allowed herself to enjoy the rare feeling of having something to look forward to.

As she pushed open the ornate front doors, she was greeted with the sight of Olivia Caliban across the room, settled on a bench and reading a book. Next to her was her bag, which had several more books in it. Her hair was still in a bun, but a few pieces had come astray, and her glasses had slipped down her nose a bit. Jacquelyn quietly walked over to her. “Hey you,” she said softly, mindful of the peaceful hush in the library.

Olivia looked up and smiled broadly. “Hey!” She closed her book and stuffed it in her bag with the rest. As she stood up, Jacquelyn smiled and lifted her hand to Olivia’s face, gently rubbing her thumb over a spot on her right cheek.

Olivia’s eyes seemed to darken, and she looked at Jacquelyn’s lips. Jacquelyn cleared her throat. “You, uh, you have ink on your face,” she murmured, trying not to react to Olivia's eyes on her. 

Olivia laughed, not uncomfortably so much as a little embarrassedly. “Oh, I didn’t realize. I have a habit of holding my pen when I’m thinking, I must have gotten it too close to my face.”

Jacquelyn made a soft “hmm” sound, which she figured was the only safe answer at that moment. “Shall we?”

“We shall.”

Jacquelyn led the way out of the library and out onto the street. “It is just a short walk from here, thankfully. It looks as if there will be a storm soon.” Olivia looked up and realized she was right. Rolling black clouds covered the sky, and it looked as if they could open up at any second. The women looked at each other and began to walk a little faster. Olivia zipped up her bag in hopes of protecting her books from any rain that might fall.

Just after she did that, a drop of rain splashed down onto Jacquelyn’s head. Jacquelyn laughed, reaching out her hand to Olivia. “Come on!”

Olivia grabbed her outstretched hand and intertwined their fingers as they began to run. Around them, the rain started coming down faster. They laughed, running from under a tree and quickly to the next overhanging roof or other shelter, managing to keep their clothes mostly dry. They laughed, breathless, each time they paused. Both of the women knew that now wasn’t necessarily the best time to be doing this, but they couldn’t help the way they felt in each other’s company. 

They reached the front door of the building and without releasing Olivia’s hand, she leaned toward a small lens. The light above the lens turned green, and Jacquelyn pulled Olivia inside, finally releasing her hand to make sure the door was secured behind them. Noticing Olivia looking curiously back at the door, Jacquelyn smiled. “Retinal scan,” she said by way of explanation. Olivia nodded and swallowed, suddenly remembering why she was here. Anyone who had a building secured via retinal scan had to be into some dangerous stuff. She shook her head, trying to not worry about it yet. Jacquelyn, seeming to know what she was thinking, gave her an understanding smile. “Follow me,” she said as she headed for a stairwell. 

They climbed up two flights before exiting the stairwell, moving down a dim hallway to the right and stopping in front of a door marked 313. “Here we are,” she said as she typed in a series of three phrases. The strange keypad had a series of wires extending from it, and each time Jacquelyn entered something it made a small whirring sound. After the third, there was a click and Jacquelyn swung the door in. At Olivia’s awe, she nodded. “I’ll explain inside.”

She set a hand on the small of Olivia’s back and guided her into the apartment before shutting the door behind them, locking a deadbolt even though the main lock system was already engaging. “Welcome to my home,” Jacquelyn said, looking almost embarrassed. “It isn’t much, I know. I don’t spend a lot of time here, if I’m being honest.”

Olivia smiled as she looked around her. Simple furniture, only a few paintings on the walls, and a bookshelf in the corner. “Oh, Jacquelyn it’s wonderful! Thank you for allowing me to stay.”

“It’s my pleasure, truly. Now, before we get into the nitty gritty stuff, would you like dinner? I think I have all we need to make Pasta Puttanesca.”

“That sounds perfect. If you could point me to the restroom, I’ll wash up and help you cook.”

“First door on your left down the hall, but there’s no need for you to help me. You’re my guest, after all.”

“Please, I want to help however I can. It means a lot that you are willing to let me stay here despite the fact that we just met today.”

Jacquelyn turned away from her, worried that she was blushing. “It feels like I’ve known you for far longer than that, Olivia.”  


Olivia rested her hand on Jacquelyn’s arm, allowing it to softly run down as she spoke. “I feel the same way.” Sliding her hand from where it had reached Jacquelyn’s hand, she turned and left for the bathroom.

Jacquelyn took a shaky breath, squared her shoulders, and began pulling ingredients out for dinner. She had to get out of her head.

\-----

The two had opened a bottle of wine while preparing dinner, and were halfway through it as they sat down at the table to eat. They had spent their time talking over their favorite books; rather, Olivia talked about her favorite books while Jacquelyn watched her, happy to see her so happy.

While they ate, they continued to drink their wine and talk. Olivia hadn’t had any alcohol in a very long while, and she felt herself blurring the line between buzzed and tipsy. Jacquelyn offered her another glass, which she declined. “My alcohol tolerance isn’t what it used to be, I’m afraid. I shouldn’t have even had that last glass!”

Jacquelyn looked at Olivia, whose face was pink from the wine. “You know what? I have the day off tomorrow, and if I’m not mistaken you don’t need to go back to work either. Why don’t we save the darkness and despair for tomorrow and just enjoy ourselves tonight?”

Olivia looked at Jacquelyn carefully. “Can we afford to enjoy ourselves?”

“Normally, I would say no. But waiting 12 more hours won’t make or break anything. We don’t have to wait if you’d rather discuss everything now, though.”

Olivia shook her head, a corner of her mouth turning up. “No, I would very much like to enjoy myself with you.”

Jacquelyn grinned, broader than Olivia had seen her grin before, and poured two more glasses of wine. “In that case, drink up! I’ll put some music on.”

She went to her bookshelf, which had a small speaker on one of its shelves. Soon, smooth jazz began to play and Jacquelyn motioned to the couch. “We can deal with cleaning up later.”

Olivia laughed and grabbed the two glasses of wine, setting them on the coffee table.

“You’re not what I expected, Jacquelyn Scieszka.”  
Jacquelyn tilted her head. “Oh?”

“Yes. In a good way, though. You just seemed so intimidating when I first met you.”

“I can be intimidating when I want to be. It’s mostly a work thing.”

“That makes sense. Well, I’m glad you’re letting me see this side of you.”

Jacquelyn smiled as they picked up their wine glasses and tapped them together. “As am I.”

Olivia took a sip of wine and turned toward Jacquelyn on the small couch. “Tell me about yourself. The non-VFD, non-work parts.”

Jacquelyn’s brow furrowed as if no one had cared to ask her that for a very long time. For some reason, that thought caused Olivia to feel a pang of sadness. But for the next little while, Jacquelyn talked about her childhood, her hobbies, and other things in between. Olivia listened intently, appearing as if she was taking mental notes the same way she would taken written ones (if it wouldn’t have been weird in this situation, of course).

Suddenly, Jacquelyn jumped up, grabbing Olivia’s hand from where she now stood above her. They had both had another full glass of wine, and neither could recall the last time they felt so relaxed. “I love this song! Dance with me?”

Olivia smiled up at her almost adoringly. “Of course.” She allowed herself to be pulled up, and she set her left hand on Jacquelyn’s perfect waist as Jacquelyn set her right hand on her shoulder, their other hands staying clasped off to the side. They began a slow waltz, messy and choppy because when did they have time to practice these things? But they didn’t mind. It was imperfect, but it was theirs. 

The thought that they were even able to call anything “theirs” made both of them a bit nervous. They knew that despite how good this felt, they were moving fast. They didn’t even know what they were moving toward. But it didn’t matter. They were dancing, they were happy, and they were a little bit drunk.

As they danced, Jacquelyn stepped too close to the table and nearly fell backward, but Olivia quickly pulled her flush against her body with a strength she didn’t realize she possessed. The shorter woman looked up into her eyes and held her gaze. She took left hand out of Olivia’s right and gently lay her palm on her cheek, smiling as her thumb rubbed back and forth again. “I never knew a smudge of ink could look so good.”

Olivia blushed, embarrassed that she had forgotten to clean it off. She looked down. Jacquelyn moved her hand from her cheek to beneath her chin, pulling it up until Olivia looked at her again. “Please don’t be embarrassed. You’re beautiful, Olivia. The ink is flattering on a face as lovely as yours.”

Olivia smiled shyly, reaching both hands around to the small of Jacquelyn’s back. “You’re radiant, Jacquelyn. I would very much like to kiss you now, if you are open to that.”

“Mm, please do. I’m more than open to that.”

So Olivia reached up to gently tangle her hand in the soft hair at the base of Jacquelyn’s neck and leaned toward her slowly, giving her a chance to pull away if she changed her mind. But Jacquelyn just leaned in toward her, and their lips met softly. She pulled back and saw that Jacquelyn was smiling, still looking up at her. She figured that was good enough permission to continue and leaned back in to kiss Jacquelyn properly, lips parted and hand still in her hair. They kissed again and again, and as Jacquelyn’s hands began to wander up and down Olivia’s sides she shivered and softly kissed the corner of Jacquelyn’s mouth, smiling at the small noise of disappointment she made when their lips were no longer touching. She kissed Jacquelyn’s cheek, then the side of her chin, then down below her ear, Jacquelyn’s sharp intake of breath spurring her on. She began kissing down her neck, pausing to suck lightly at any place she noticed elicited a reaction from her partner.

Breathing heavily, Jacquelyn pulled Olivia’s face back to hers and kissed her soundly. “Would you like to go to the bedroom?” She murmured against her lips.

Olivia didn’t trust herself to speak, so she just nodded and grabbed Jacquelyn’s hand, allowing herself to be led to Jacquelyn’s bedroom. Burning within Olivia was a fire the likes of which she had never felt before, and she couldn’t wait to let it consume her. As they reached her bedroom, Olivia closed her door and spun them around so that Jacquelyn was against it. Olivia leaned in to recapture her lips, reaching up to cup her face. Jacquelyn reached up and carefully began undoing Olivia’s bun, humming contentedly when her dark brown hair, which was surprisingly long, tumbled out. She ran her fingers through it gently as they kissed, Jacquelyn still trapped against the door by Olivia’s body.

“Ms. Scieszka, you’re wearing entirely too many clothes.” Olivia whispered in Jacquelyn’s ear, punctuating the sentence by tugging on the end of her earlobe with her teeth. Jacquelyn moaned softly at that, pulling Olivia’s hair. 

“Undress me then.”

When Olivia smiled, it was almost predatory. “Yes ma’am,” she said as she began slowly unwrapping the bow from around Jacquelyn’s neck, kissing the skin it revealed. She moved on to unbutton her jacket, and the blouse that was beneath it, kissing her collarbones and down her sternum, stopping to tease the skin around the edge of her bra. She moved her hands down to cup Jacquelyn’s breasts, rubbing her thumbs over the peaks of her hardened nipples. Jacquelyn gasped, back arching to bring her closer to Olivia. 

Olivia continued kissing a searing trail down the other woman’s stomach as she reached around and undid her bra. When her lips reached the edge of her skirt, she softly bit at Jacquelyn’s hip bone, which elicited a sound that was nearly a whine from Jacquelyn, who was panting above her and trying her best not to grab Olivia by the hair and force her to where she wanted her to be. Olivia must have understood, because she carefully unzipped her skirt and helped her step out of it. 

This left Jacquelyn in just a pair of plain white panties, which Olivia kissed softly. Jacquelyn moaned, and pulled Olivia up off the floor. “Olivia. Clothes off. Bed.” She said in between gasps for breath. Olivia did as she was told and undressed quickly. There was no way she could ever deny Jacquelyn anything when she was saying her name like that. Jacquelyn had pulled her panties off and pushed Olivia backward until she fell onto the bed. Jacquelyn giggled at the face Olivia made when she fell, and Olivia smiled in return. “Come here, you.” Olivia said as she pulled Jacquelyn on top of her. They smiled as they kissed again, but as Olivia’s hands moved down to rub over Jacquelyn’s ass, Jacquelyn grinded her hips forward and they both moaned.

“Olivia, I would like to taste you. Is that okay?”

Olivia whimpered and nodded frantically. “Yes, Jacquelyn, please.”

Jacquelyn took her time moving down the other woman’s body, giving her a taste of the sweet torture that she had experienced earlier. She kissed down her neck, stopping at her breast to kiss around her nipple. As Olivia pushed her chest up toward Jacquelyn, she took a nipple into her mouth and sucked softly. Olivia cried out, grabbing Jacquelyn’s head to push her further into her chest, a request that she fulfilled readily, licking around her nipples almost aggressively. Finally, she moved down again until she reached her lover’s soaking wet folds. She ran her finger up her slit, marveling at the moisture that she was the cause of. This knowledge gave her a sort of hunger she had never experienced; a hunger to make this woman feel better than she had ever felt before.

To this end, she followed the path of her finger with her tongue, stopping to circle her clit when she reached it. Olivia gasped and jerked her hips, which Jacquelyn held down with one hand. “Spread your legs for me, Olivia.” She obliged, revealing the rest of her beautiful pussy. Though Jacquelyn wanted to take the time to admire it, she leaned down to bite Olivia’s thigh sharply, which made her yelp. By way of an apology, Jacquelyn put her mouth back on Olivia’s clit and began devouring it, thankful for her building's thick walls as Olivia moaned loudly. She used the pointer finger of the hand that wasn’t pinning Olivia to the bed to softly tease around her opening, loving the desperate movements she made to get Jacquelyn’s finger inside of her. “J-Jacquelyn, please..”

“Please what, Olivia? What do you want?” 

“I - mm, fuck - I want your fingers inside of me.”

At this confirmation, Jacquelyn lowered her head back down to continue pleasing her lover as she slowly pushed her finger inside. Olivia was so wet that her finger slipped in without any resistance so she pulled it out and added another finger on the next thrust. Olivia groaned, grasping the sheets as Jacquelyn began fucking her. After awhile, she began curling her fingers upward, moaning into Olivia’s pussy as Olivia let out a long, low moan. “Jacquelyn,” Olivia panted, hand moving to grasp the one that still rested on her hip, “I’m- I’m close.”

 

Jacquelyn doubled her efforts, fucking Olivia hard and moving her tongue in tight, fast circles around her clit as she thrusted up into her face. With a cry, her hips shook as she rode out her orgasm, the hand that still held Jacquelyn’s tight as a vise. Jacquelyn slowed her ministrations, and as Olivia finally stopped shuddering she placed a final soft kiss on her clit, which made Olivia gasp, and one on each thigh. Wiping her face on the back of her hand, she began her path back up. She kissed her stomach and the tops of both breasts, finally reaching her face. Her eyes were still closed and she was still breathing heavily, so Jacquelyn placed a kiss on each of her pink cheeks, the tip of her nose, and her forehead. Olivia opened her eyes and smiled at her, satiated. “Hi there.”

Jacquelyn smiled back, head propped up on her arm. “Hey.” 

Olivia leaned over to kiss her softly. “That was amazing, Jacquelyn. Do you want to lay down for me?” 

Jacquelyn bit her lip and nodded uncertainly. She had always been bad at this part, the part where things slowed down and she had time to overthink (or think at all, now that they were no longer in a desire-fueled haze).

Olivia kissed her again. “Hey, we don’t have to. I’d be more than happy just holding you until you fall asleep if that’s what you want.”

“No, I-I want this. I want you. I’m just nervous.”

“I understand, but I promise you have nothing to be nervous about. I’ll start slow, is that fine? Just let me know if you’re getting uncomfortable or want me to stop.” 

Jacquelyn nodded. Olivia gently pulled Jacquelyn to lay next to her, and she began kissing her softly. As she slowly deepened the kiss, she felt Jacquelyn move closer to her so she wrapped the arm that wasn’t propped up beneath her chin to hold her head up around her partner. Olivia began stroking up and down Jacquelyn’s side, moving toward the middle. With each stroke she moved further up and down Jacquelyn’s body, and when she reached her breasts she slowed down, giving Jacquelyn time to say no. She didn’t, so Olivia caressed her breasts softly, feeling every inch of them on her palm as Jacquelyn’s breathing quickened. She moved her fingers to tweak her nipples, which brought forth a gasp. Olivia reached her hand back up to her mouth and broke the kiss in order to lick the pad of her thumb and forefinger. She returned it to Jacquelyn’s nipple and pinched it gently, sliding her wet fingers on either side of it. Jacquelyn let out a long breath into Olivia’s neck. Olivia repeated this on the other side, by which time Jacquelyn’s hips were rolling, looking for friction. 

In response, Olivia carefully moved her hand down Jacquelyn’s stomach, taking care to not lose contact with her skin so she wouldn’t be surprised when she reached her destination. As she did, she traced her lips, feeling the wetness that had leaked out there. She took her time moving closer to her slit, making sure Jacquelyn knew where she was going. She carefully reached out with her foot and pulled the leg that was closest to her closer yet so that Jacquelyn’s legs were spread just enough to access her folds. 

She slipped her finger up and down through her folds, enjoying every hitch of breath that came from her partner. She began rubbing over her clit with her thumb, careful to put just the right amount of pressure. As Jacquelyn moaned, she figured she was doing okay with the ‘not scaring her off’ part. “Jacquelyn, I want to be inside of you. Is that alright?”

Jacquelyn exhaled loudly. “Yes, Olivia, please.” Olivia gave her one last lingering kiss before moving to sit closer to Jacquelyn’s knees, and while she was down there she gave the one closer to her a kiss for good measure. Then she replaced her thumb on Jacquelyn’s clit and positioned her finger at her opening. “Can you spread your legs a bit more for me, lovely?” She did so, granting Olivia access. Once she was settled, Olivia slowly pushed the tip of her finger into her, gasping at the wet heat of it. She continued pushing until her finger was buried inside Jacquelyn, who shifted to deepen the thrust. She moved her finger in and out a few times, and when she was reasonably sure it would be enjoyable for Jacquelyn to receive more she added another finger. Jacquelyn whimpered and began moving her hips to meet Olivia’s movements. “Olivia, more!” Olivia grinned and began pushing into her harder, her thumb still rubbing over Jacquelyn’s clit. She continued this for a few minutes as Jacquelyn’s thrusts became more spasmodic. With difficulty, Olivia continued working Jacquelyn’s pussy while she leaned forward to capture a nipple between her lips. The three points of contact must have thrown Jacquelyn over the edge, because she reached up to hold Olivia to her as she cried out, body spasming. As it calmed, Olivia wiped her hand on her thigh and slid back up to kiss Jacquelyn, who was still holding onto her. She nuzzled into her neck as she waited for Jacquelyn to come down from her high. A moment later, Jacquelyn reached over and grabbed Olivia’s hand and kissed the top of her head gently.

“Olivia, you’re incredible.”

Olivia tucked a piece of Jacquelyn’s hair behind her ear and smiled softly. “I feel the same way about you, Jacquelyn.”

Jacquelyn returned the smile, and nuzzled back into her. “We should get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.” 

Olivia hummed in agreement and settled back in next to Jacquelyn, pulling the sheet around them loosely. “Goodnight Jacquelyn.”

“Goodnight Olivia.”

And Olivia found that although she knew this bliss was bound to be short-lived and that tomorrow she may face any number of dangers, tonight she was content to lie in the arms of someone who had been a stranger a little over 12 hours ago. Tomorrow’s problems could wait - she and this perfect woman still had tonight.


	2. The Horizon Leans Forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't really plan on keeping this going but hearing that you all liked it gave me so much more motivation! I am working on more chapters now. Thank you for reading, and please keep sharing what you think!

Olivia awoke with a start as she felt Jacquelyn leap out of her arms.

“Wha-” Jacquelyn pressed a hand over her mouth. 

“Shh. I think someone is trying to get into the apartment.” She released Olivia’s mouth and threw on the first thing she saw, which was the tank top that Olivia had been wearing under her blouse earlier that night. Forgetting the situation, Olivia couldn’t help but admire the sight. Jacquelyn then threw on a pair of shorts she retrieved from the top of her dresser, and loaded a gun that she retrieved from what seemed to be a compartment on the side. Olivia’s eyes widened, and as quietly as she could she threw on her blouse and underwear, figuring that if she was about to die she would prefer to not be nude. Jacquelyn handed her a knife and jerked her head toward the door. 

As they crept closer, Olivia could hear the sounds of the mechanism in the door whirring to life. They carefully exited the room and crouched behind the couch, listening. “Whoever it is knows the code,” Olivia whispered almost too quietly to hear. 

Jacquelyn nodded. The sounds of quick typing could be heard, and finally the lock disengaged and the door swung in. Silhouetted in the light from the hallway was the figure of a rather short man. Jacquelyn huffed. 

“What the hell Larry! Come in, but close the door and turn around.”

“Um.. alright.”

Jacquelyn motioned to the bedroom and she and Olivia stood up and quickly went over to it, shutting the door behind them. “Olivia, I don’t know what Larry wants but it must be critically important for him to enter my private space at such a late hour. Let’s get dressed. Whatever it is, I want you there with me.”

Olivia nodded, reaching down to grab her skirt. Jacquelyn flushed as she realized she was wearing Olivia’s tank top. “Do you need this?”

Olivia smirked. “No. I like it better on you.”

Jacquelyn bit her lip, smiling at her, but with her brow still furrowed from stress. Olivia wished that she could kiss the skin there until it was smooth again, but now was not the time for such luxuries. When they finished dressing, they went back to the living room where Larry was still dutifully waiting facing the door. She flicked on the light. “Okay Larry, turn back around now.” 

He did so, and when he saw who Jacquelyn had with her and the state of dishevelment they were both in, he gave Jacquelyn a knowing look. Jacquelyn glared at him in response, but not wholeheartedly. They all moved to sit down at the kitchen table.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, ladies, but I have critically important news on the orphans. The Baudelaires have been sent to live with Jerome and Esme Squalor in The City. We have reason to believe the Quagmires may be held there too.

Jacquelyn’s tone was once again the sharp, nonsensical one she had heard her use at work. “Esme Squalor? Good lord. Do you think she has already connected with him?”

“I can’t say for sure, although in my experience Esme would do a great many things to get that sugar bowl.”

Olivia’s eyes narrowed, confused. What the hell was a sugar bowl? A code word?

Jacquelyn turned to her. “Olivia, you’ve met Larry. I think it’s time he and I explain some things to you.”

Olivia nodded, reaching into her blouse pocket for her commonplace book. Opening it and laying it on the table, she made a vague gesture for Jacquelyn to continue, pen held ready.

“There are a great many dangerous secrets within VFD. Arguably the most sinister of these is that of the sugar bowl, which was originally in the possession of one Esme Squalor, until it was stolen by a woman named Beatrice.”

Jacquelyn and Larry went on to tell the rest of the sugar bowl's story, finally ending with “Currently, we think it may be at VFD headquarters in the Mortmain Mountains.”

Olivia finished her notes and adjusted her glasses. “I’m still confused. Does the sugar bowl have anything to do with the Baudelaires themselves?”

Larry and Jacquelyn looked at each other quickly, so quickly that Olivia couldn’t have been sure it happened at all. “Not the children, no. We think Esme may just be trying to kill two birds with one stone, if you will.”

“Three birds, if you count the Quagmire triplets.” Larry added.

Olivia shuddered. “Three birds, then. So what do we do?”

Jacquelyn sighed. “Well, tomorrow we need to start searching for the Quagmires at 667 Dark Avenue. Larry, how does working at the Cafe Salmonella tomorrow sound? I can ensure that it is the innest place to dine. I'll be there if they are.”

Larry nodded. “Okay, good,” Jacquelyn responded, “and Olivia, I think tomorrow will be your first mission. I am going to ask you to go with Jacques Snicket to 667 Dark Avenue and begin searching for the children.”

Olivia nodded. She didn’t know who Jacques Snicket was, but she trusted that Jacquelyn knew what she was doing. 

“Larry, please call Jacques and ask him to meet Olivia at the park bench on Main Street at 9 am. He’ll know what to do.”

“He always does,” Larry replied, standing from the couch. “Be safe Jacquelyn, Olivia.”

“Same to you,” Olivia replied. 

Jacquelyn stood up to let him out of the apartment. When he was stepping out of the door, he whispered something that Olivia couldn’t hear, but Jacquelyn smacked his arm in response. She locked the door and when she came back, her cheeks were tinted pink.

“Okay. It’s 2 am. Would you rather I go over the little background info you need to know about your mission now or in the morning before I go to work?”

“I thought you didn’t have to work tomorrow?”

“I didn’t. But in light of all that’s going on, I need to be in the action. You’d be surprised how much happens around Mulctuary Money Management.”

Olivia nodded. “We can do it now. Then we can sleep and we won’t have to rush around in the morning.”

Jacquelyn smiled. “Alright. Really all you need to know is that Jacques is a rather tall, dark-haired main. He is broad-shouldered and has a mustache. But regardless of who approaches you that may look this way, there is a code you must use. Okay?”

“Okay. What is the code?”

“When Jacques comes up to you, he will say, ‘I didn’t realize this was a sad occasion’. Do not go with anyone who does not say this to you. And when he says this, you answer, ‘the world is quiet here”.

Olivia nodded. “Jacques will tell me he didn’t realize this was a sad occasion, and I will tell him that the world is quiet here.”

“Very good. When you go with Jacques, he will bring you the items you two will need for this mission. Are you afraid of heights?”

“A bit.”

“You must steel yourself then, Olivia. There will be a lot of climbing involved.”

“I can handle it. Saving those children is far more important to me than a little bit of fear.”

Jacquelyn smiled. “I’m glad. Now we should rest, we have a very trying time ahead of us.”

Olivia nodded and did her best to smile back. She was nervous. Nervous for tomorrow because she was worried that she would fail the children. Nervous for right now because she was worried that it would be uncomfortable between her and Jacquelyn now that they had slept together and had no deep discussions to distract them.

To Olivia’s relief, Jacquelyn stood up and inclined her head toward the bedroom door. “I have pajamas if you’d like some.”

“That would be wonderful. Although just a shirt will suffice. I generally just sleep with a shirt and underwear, if that’s alright.”

“That’s fine. You have, uh, nice legs. They deserve to be bare.” She winced at her own awkward attempt at flirting, but Olivia just laughed softly. 

“Thanks, Jacquelyn.”

Jacquelyn nodded, not making eye contact, and handed Olivia a t-shirt. She pulled a t-shirt and shorts out for herself, and they both quickly changed and got back into bed once Jacquelyn turned the light back off. 

They started off on opposite sides of the bed, but Olivia figured that if she had to be brave tomorrow, she may as well be brave now so she rolled to face Jacquelyn and got close enough to press a kiss to her shoulder and lay her arm over her stomach.

Jacquelyn noticeably relaxed and turned into Olivia enough to wrap her arm around her, leaning up to kiss Olivia softly. Olivia kissed her back, tightening her hold on the other woman.

They both settled back down, and all was silent for a few moments. “Olivia?” Jacquelyn said quietly.

“Mm?”

“What are we doing?”

Olivia raised her head a little. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, we both know that we are in terrible danger all the time. There is no ignoring that. Is this really an appropriate time to start a romance?”

Olivia let out a quiet huff of laughter. “Is any time an appropriate time to start a romance? Jacquelyn, I know we just met, but I like you. And starting something with you will not distract me from my responsibilities as a volunteer, or my desire to save the children. Why not give ourselves something to enjoy?”

Jacquelyn smiled. “I suppose you’re right. In that case, let’s just see where our time together takes us.”

Olivia kissed her forehead. “That sounds wonderful. Goodnight Jacquelyn.”

Jacquelyn rested her head in the crook of Olivia’s neck. “Goodnight.”

\-----

Olivia woke before Jacquelyn did, seeing from the clock on the bedside table that it was only 6 am. Waking up this early was a habit deeply ingrained in her from her days working in assorted libraries, and she had long since stopped trying to fight it. She carefully rolled out of Jacquelyn’s arms and padded down the hall to the bathroom, where she took a quick shower and returned to Jacquelyn’s bedroom. She was searching through her bag for something to wear (what does one even wear when scaling a building?) when Jacquelyn awoke. 

She got out of bed and came over to Olivia, resting her chin on her shoulder and her arms around her waist. “Morning." she mumbled, voice still sleepy. "You can wear whatever you want, Jacques will be bringing your climbing get up when he heads to the city from headquarters in a couple of hours.”

Olivia turned her head to kiss Jacquelyn, careful not to move too quickly so she didn’t whip her with her long, wet hair. “Okay. I’m sorry if I woke you, I’m an early riser.”

“I don’t mind. We have time for breakfast now.”

Olivia grinned. “That sounds nice! Why don’t you do whatever you need to do to get ready for the day and I’ll clean up our mess from last night; we can figure everything out from there.”

Jacquelyn nodded, briefly tightening her hold on Olivia and pressing a kiss onto the back of her neck before walking off to shower.

\---

When Jacquelyn was done getting ready, Olivia was sitting on the couch in dark jeans and a light purple blouse, a book open on her lap and one hand twirling through a strand of her long hair. Jacquelyn smiled at the sight. “What are you reading?”

Olivia closed her book over her finger to mark the page. “The Aeneid. I’ve never read this translation before.”

“I’ve never read any translation before. What’s it about?”

“A Trojan man who travels to Italy, ultimately becoming the ancestor of the romans. Obviously there’s much more to it than that, but that’s the gist of it.”

“Hmm. Maybe I should read it sometime.”

“You absolutely should! It’s one of my favorite epics.”

Jacquelyn smiled. “Good to know. What shall we have for breakfast?”

“Why don’t we go out? My treat.”

“That’s very kind of you. There’s a quaint little cafe a few streets over, would that be alright?”

“That would be perfect!”

The two gathered their things (Jacquelyn her purse since she was heading to work and Olivia just her wallet since she knew she should be travelling light) and prepared to leave. “Will you be staying here again tonight?”

“Oh! I hadn’t thought of that! If it’s alright with you, I would love to stay here.”

“Okay! I don’t know what today will hold, so I’ll program you into the scanner outside and teach you the codes for the door in case we don’t get to return home together.”

“You never did explain the lock to me.”

“Ah yes, sorry. I suppose we did get a bit… distracted.”

Olivia smirked. “Yes, just a bit.”

“Well, this is a Vernacularly Fastened Door. It’s a special lock used by VFD to protect important things. With so many enemies around, I figured it couldn’t hurt to protect myself as well. The mechanism locks with three codes that I chose myself. They are all words or phrases that answer questions that only I know, or someone who is either very cunning or very intelligent. The first answer is the name of a very friendly snake discovered by a very kind herpetologist I knew once.”

Olivia looked at her and shook her head. “Ironically, it’s the Incredibly Deadly Viper. It’s purposely misleading, and therefore a great way to fool enemies.”

Olivia smiled. “Incredibly Deadly Viper. Got it.”

“The second phrase is pretty easy, at least for someone like yourself. What type of tree is used for the famous metaphor in Sylvia Plath’s ‘The Bell Jar’?”

“A fig tree!”

“Exactly. When you type it in, make sure you only type ‘fig tree’, though.” At Olivia’s nod, Jacquelyn continued. “Okay, last question. This one is the longest. It’s a phrase from a poem that a good friend of mine has always deeply enjoyed. The phrase is ‘the night has a thousand eyes, the day but one’”.

“Bourdillon. Your friend has good taste.”

Jacquelyn smiled sadly. “She does. I haven’t seen her in a very long time, though. Actually, she’s Jacques’ sister.”

“Jacques’ sister? What is her name?”

“Kit. Kit Snicket. I hope you’ll have the chance to meet her and her partner sometime. She is a wonderful person.”

“I hope so too, Jacquelyn.”

“Oh! Before I forget, if there is an emergency and you need to enter this apartment faster than you can type in the codes to unlock the Vernacularly Fastened Door, tap three times with your ring finger on the peep hole and it will become a retinal scan and allow you to enter. Come with me and we can program them.”

The two walked over to the door and Jacquelyn tapped the peephole 3 times with her ring finger, just as she had told Olivia. It opened up to reveal a scanner, which Jacquelyn showed her thumb. There was a quiet beep, and Jacquelyn removed her hand and led Olivia to stand in front of the door. There was a long beep and then a shorter one, and the light turned green. Olivia stepped back. 

“Perfect,” Jacquelyn said, “we should be good to go.”

Oliva placed a hand on her arm. “Actually, there’s one more thing.”

“Oh?” Jacquelyn asked as she turned toward her. 

Without replying, Olivia leaned in to kiss her softly. Jacquelyn responded to the kiss and rested her hand on Olivia’s face. Sooner than either of them would’ve liked, they broke apart, smiled at each other, and turned to leave.

The walk to the cafe was not long, and neither of them spoke, simply enjoying the morning sunshine. When they arrived, they got a nice table by the window and settled in, reading over the menus. Jacquelyn ordered poached eggs and Olivia ordered crepes, with both of them getting coffee. 

As they sat, they talked about everything and nothing, simply enjoying the opportunity to get to know each other better. When it came time to leave, Olivia paid and they left, heading further into the City. Olivia reached over and squeezed Jacquelyn’s hand as she dropped her off at the bank, and continued alone to Main Street, where she would wait for Jacques Snicket.

She sat on the bench, crossed her legs, and waited calmly for a man she had never met to come take her to climb a massive building. It was looking to be an interesting day.


	3. What Are You Willing to Pay?

Within a few moments of Olivia’s arrival, a very sturdily built man walked in her direction. He was wearing an outfit of what seemed to be all black leather.

“Well, hello there. I didn’t realize this was a sad occasion.” the man said, his voice steady.

Olivia looked up at him, trying to sound calmer than she felt. “The world is quiet here.”

Jacques smiled. “You must be Olivia. I’m Jacques.”

Olivia reached out her hand for him to take. “It’s nice to meet you Jacques. Now, let’s save these kids.”

“I like your attitude. Here is your climbing gear, you can run into that convenience store to change. Just tell the man behind the counter you’re with J.S., he’ll show you where to go.”

Olivia took the outfit (which appeared to also be made of leather) and did as he said. She was still nervous, but Jacques himself seemed nice enough. She entered the store, which was almost eerily quiet. The sign outside had said “Various Fair-priced Doodads”. Internally, Olivia cringed. This secret organization needed a better way to keep their secret places, well, secret. She couldn’t believe that someone passing by wouldn’t think that a store with ‘doodads’ in the name was at least a bit strange. 

She stood in front of the counter and rang the bell. A man that Olivia had never seen before walked in from the back. “Hello, young lady. What can I help you with?”

“I’m with J.S.,” Olivia stated.

The man raised an eyebrow. “Alright then. Go to the back of the store, second door from the left.”

Olivia nodded and told him thank you, wasting no time in going and getting changed. The room was nothing more than a closet with metal shelves, various trinkets and files strewn across them. As much as she would like to stay and look through them, she forced herself to move quickly, tying her hair up and heading back out to Jacques.

Jacques nodded approvingly. “Looks good. Your clothes should fit in the pocket of that jacket. Now, let’s go.”

He led her to a taxi, which he climbed into the driver seat of and nodded for her to enter the passenger seat. She did so, and they pulled away from the curb and went even deeper into the City. He parallel parked again, and they walked about another block. “Here we are,” Jacques said, pointing to a building that towered above the rest. They prepared their gear, and without speaking Olivia steeled herself and began scaling the building. They looked in every window, seeing no sign of the Quagmires. Olivia did see a few things that she had never wanted to see, however, including a very naked old woman sipping coffee in her apartment, raising her hand in friendly acknowledgement as Olivia passed by her window.

They stopped on a ledge to rest. “No sign of them,” Jacques said. “Maybe we’ll get lucky in the penthouse.”

Olivia cringed at the innuendo and looked away. “Maybe. Is it possible they’re hidden somewhere where there are no windows?”

“I suppose it is, although every room in this building is advertised as having ‘floor to ceiling windows’.”

“Advertisements can be misleading. Let’s go search the penthouse. If Esme Squalor does have something to do with this, maybe she has them in there. It is an enormous place after all.”

So they scaled the rest of the building, carefully entering the penthouse through an open window. They searched the entire thing, which took hours, but came up empty (although they did think they heard someone moving around the penthouse, but never managed to find the source). As they prepared to leave, however, a door slammed somewhere near the front. Jacques and Olivia could hear very faint voices, and they crept toward them to investigate. “You can tell me anything, I’m your guardian.” a voice that could only be Esme Squalor was saying to the Baudelaires.

“Okay,” Violet said nervously, “The elevator here is missing. It’s ersatz. The Quagmires are being kept near the bottom of the empty shaft. We promised them they would be rescued.”

“Oh?” Esme answered, sounding less surprised than she should have. Olivia’s stomach sank. “Show me this elevator shaft.”

The three children and their guardian left the apartment, and a moment later, Olivia and Jacques were met with the terrible sound of Esme’s maniacal laughter, and the even more terrible sound of the desperate screams of three orphans as they fell through the air. Olivia clapped her hand over her mouth.  
“Come on,” Jacques said, grabbing Olivia by the arm, “we have to hide.”

They ran into another room, ducking behind a large curtain as Esme reentered the penthouse, Count Olaf in tow. To Olivia’s disgust, the two began dancing to loud music that blared through the penthouse. Music that was entirely too happy for this awful situation.

Olivia peeked out from where she was hiding. “Jacques, we have to get those kids. When they turn their backs for long enough, we need to duck behind the couch in the front room. When they turn again, we will run out the door and climb down the shaft of the elevator and get the Baudelaires (the ‘if they are still alive’ was unspoken) and the Quagmires.”

Jacques nodded. “I’ll bet the tunnel that runs under the city has an entrance in that shaft. If so, we can take the children out there and bring them somewhere safe.”

Olivia nodded back, and as soon as she saw an opening she ran into the room where two cruel people were dancing and hid behind the couch only a few feet from them. Olivia waited for another opportunity, and she and Jacques darted across the room and out the door, taking a deep breath of relief when they made it to the other side. The two volunteers looked at each other, then at the still open doors of the elevator shaft, and together they began climbing down. Before they got far, they were met with a surprise. 

“Lib,” a small voice said, as a small person stopped her climbing next to Olivia. 

“Sunny! You’re alright!” Olivia reached out her hand and Sunny took it, allowing herself to be pulled to Olivia. “Are your siblings down there?”

“Da,” Sunny replied seriously. “Net.”

“Jacques, Violet and Klaus are trapped in a net further down the shaft. Let’s go. Sunny, can you hold onto my back while we climb?”

Sunny babbled in agreement and climbed around to Olivia’s back, wrapping her small arms around her neck. 

They went down the shaft as fast as they could, soon hearing Sunny’s older siblings talking quietly. “He!” Sunny shouted.

“Sunny?” Violet shouted back. “Are you okay?”

“Da! Lib!”

“The.. librarian from Prufrock Prep is with her? Olivia?” Violet said to Klaus, but it sounded more like a question than a statement.

As Olivia and Sunny landed on the net, with Jacques close behind them, Olivia wrapped the two older siblings in a hug. “I’m so happy to see you, Baudelaires.”

“We’re happy to see you too, Ms. Caliban.”

Olivia passed Sunny over to her sister. “Please, Violet, just call me Olivia. And this is Jacques. He’s a friend of Jacquelyn and Larry’s.”

“Hello Baudelaires.”

“Hello Jacques.” the two older Baudelaires responded in unison, as Sunny babbled something.

Olivia smiled, setting a gloved hand on Klaus and Violet’s shoulders. “Let’s go get your friends.”

“But how? You only have two sets of climbing gear, but there are 4 and a half of us.”

Jacques responded this time. “Well this may sound odd, Baudelaires, but I think you’ll have to ride on our backs. Klaus, why don’t you hop on mine and Violet and Sunny with Olivia?”

The Baudelaires looked at each other with uncertainty. “Will you be able to hold that much weight?”

“Certainly,” Olivia said confidently, “the gear holds nearly all of the weight. As long as you take care to not hold onto our necks we’ll have no trouble getting us all down there. Hop on!”

Violet shook her head, laughing a little. “Okay. Sunny, crawl around to my back and I’ll get on Olivia’s. Ready?”

Olivia and Jacques nodded, and Violet climbed onto Olivia’s back as Klaus got on Jacques’. “Ready everyone? Hold on!”

In unison, Jacques and Olivia shot out the large suction cups, which attached to the wall and they slowly began lowering themselves and the children down. Violet was a bit nervous, but Klaus hid his face in Jacques’ shoulder. He hated heights, especially when it was so dark that he couldn’t see how far he might fall. Luckily, they only had to go down 15 or so feet, which made this trip a quick one. When they reached the floor, the children climbed off the volunteers’ backs and shakily stood back up on the hard ground, crying out in dismay when they saw the cage was empty. “Oh no! He’s already taken them! But where?”

Jacques gasped. “The In Auction! They must be auctioning them off inside of something so they can get them out of the city unnoticed.”

“We have to save them! Please, you have to help us!” Violet said, voice breaking. 

Olivia put a hand on each of Violet’s shoulders. “Hey. We’re here to help, okay? I promise you that I will not rest until I know that you and your friends are safe.” Violet nodded, misty-eyed. “Good. Now let's go save those triplets.”

Jacques pulled on a piece of the wall, and it opened up to reveal a passageway. “What is this place?” Klaus asked.

“A VFD tunnel. I promise you, Baudelaires, we will explain all of this to you later. For now, follow me.”

Without hesitation, the Baudelaires climbed through the door behind Jacques, with Olivia bringing up the rear. There was no way she was going to risk having someone sneak up on them from behind. They walked for about 15 minutes, stopping beneath a manhole cover. A ladder led up to it. 

“If I remember correctly, this should be the alley behind the auction house.” He climbed up the ladder and carefully pushed back the grate. “This is it. Come with me.” He crawled out onto the street, holding a hand out to each of them and pulling them out one by one. Olivia came last, and together she and Jacques slid the manhole closed once more. 

Together, the 5 of them went to the front of the auction house and saw the man standing guard outside. “That’s one of Olaf’s henchmen,” Violet whispered. “What do we do? I can get us in, but there’s no way he’ll let you two in when he knows who you are.” 

“Olivia, go with the Baudelaires. The man doesn’t know you yet. I’ll sneak around him.” Olivia nodded, and walked with the children toward the extremely tall man that stood with a list on the stairs. 

“Hey!” the man said, his deep voice surprising Olivia. “You’re not on the list!”

“Count Olaf wants us captured, right? If you let us in, he’ll have us right in his clutches. And we brought him this woman we found wandering around. She has a large fortune in her purse.” Violet said, an edge of fear to her voice.

“I need to think about this.” Without allowing the man any time to think, the Baudelaires and Olivia pushed past him and entered the auction house. At the front, Olaf and Esme stood next to a large red fish. 

“Okay. Lot 49 says VFD, so that must be where they are,” Violet said.

“Wait. That seems too easy,” Klaus replied nervously. On the stage, Olaf seemed to be rushing through the sale of the item, glaring at the Baudelaires. Klaus’s eyes widened. “A red herring! The VFD box is a red herring. The triplets are in the fish!”

Violet gasped. “I bid $200!” she yelled, running to the front of the room.

There was a collective murmur of shock throughout the crowd. One murmur turned into a coughing fit, and a man in a suit stood up. “Baudelaires? What in heaven’s name are you doing here?” They did not answer. Olivia and Klaus (holding Sunny) walked to the front of the room to meet Violet, and to match Olaf’s fiery stare. 

“We have $200. Does anyone want to offer anything higher for this beautiful red herring?” Olaf asked, his thinly-veiled rage making his voice almost seem breathless.

“$210!” One of Olaf’s hench people shouted.

“$215!” Violet replied.

“$240!”

This went on for quite some time. At some point during the middle of it, Olivia thought she heard the sound of metal hitting something backstage, but she didn’t dare leave the Baudelaires to check. Jacques came in, the tall hench person in a headlock. “Snicket!” Olaf hissed. Everyone turned to look at Jacques. When they turned back, the two white-faced women that had been surreptitiously standing guard on either side of the red herring were gone, replaced with Jacquelyn and Larry. Olivia’s heart soared when she saw that Jacquelyn was okay. Jacquelyn caught her eye and smiled briefly. 

Suddenly, the hook-handed man came in from the side, stumbling. “300!”  
Larry grabbed him and pushed him against a wall. “$305!”

“$310!” The henchperson of indeterminate gender countered.

“$320!” Jacquelyn cried, voice straining as the two white-faced women came back, pushing hard on her pressure points and holding her in place. Angrily, Olaf spun his sharp-ended cane around and around, unknowingly slicing open his bootlaces. The tall leather boot fell down, revealing the tattoo of an eye on his ankle. 

“Look!” Mr. Poe cried, pointing to Olaf’s ankle. “It’s Count Olaf! He’s the subject of a city-wide manhunt!” 

As the crowd gasped, Eleanora Poe exclaimed “Oh dear! Wait until the readers of the Daily Punctilio hear about this!” 

“Call the police!” someone shouted. 

“Now, now, darlings. There is no reason to make a rash decision here,” Esme said, trying to calm the crowd. As she did, Violet leapt up onstage and ran to the red herring. She felt along the edges until she found a latch. 

“Hey!” Olaf roared. “You can’t touch the merchandise until you’ve paid! It’s a rule!”

“Like you care about breaking the rules, Olaf!” Olivia exclaimed as she jumped onto the stage and ran to Violet, Klaus and Sunny close behind her.

Olaf’s eyes narrowed. “You’re that school librarian!”

Olivia stood up a bit taller, glaring at him. “I’m not just a librarian,” she stated proudly, “ I’m a volunteer.”

Olaf bared his teeth at her, preparing to retaliate, but before he could Violet let out a noise of triumph as she swung the red herring open. Inside, Duncan and Isadora Quagmire huddled together still in their school uniforms, blinking at the light. Violet wrapped them both in a hug.

“Duncan! Isadora!” Klaus cried as he and Sunny went to join. 

“Oh my god! It’s the missing twins!” someone said in wonder.

“Triplets, actually!” Olivia said happily as she went to the children and looked them over, opening her arms for them when she was satisfied they were okay. They hugged her tightly. When they broke apart, Olivia stood just behind the children, arms spread out to rest on Violet’s and Duncan’s shoulders, as they were on each end. 

Finally realizing he was caught, Olaf turned and ran, followed by Esme. 

“Get them! Mr. Poe bellowed. He ran backstage, where he immediately paused, hands on his knees as he caught his breath. The two white-faced women let go of Jacquelyn and the hook-handed man elbowed Larry hard to get out of his grasp, all three following their bosses. Jacquelyn and Larry glanced at each other and sprinted after the villains. The tall man tried to escape, but Jacques had him too tightly. The henchperson of indeterminate gender was nowhere to be found. He must have slipped out unnoticed as the children reunited. 

“Come, children, it’s not safe here with Olaf and Esme still on the loose.”

The children turned to her and nodded, following her out the doors. She walked quickly toward Jacquelyn’s apartment, turning frequently to make sure they were all still okay. She would not lose them again.

They made it, and she leaned forward so the lens could scan her eye. With a click, the door swung in and she led the children inside, pushing the door firmly closed behind them. They headed up the stairs and reached Jacquelyn’s door, which she opted to unlock by retina scan as well, just because she wanted them all to be safely inside as soon as possible. They all got inside, and Olivia breathed a sigh of relief as the door closed behind them, lock reengaged. 

The five children looked around curiously. “Olivia, is this your apartment?” Isadora asked.

Olivia smiled, moving away from the door. “No. It’s Jacquelyn’s. It’s the first safe place I thought of. I’m sure Jacquelyn wouldn’t mind you two borrowing some clothes. Why don’t you come with me and we’ll see if we can find anything to get you out of those uniforms for a bit. Duncan and Isadora nodded, following Olivia down the hallway. The Baudelaire’s followed, not ready to let the triplets out of their sight just yet. Olivia dug through Jacquelyn’s drawers, finding a pair of leggings for Isadora and sweatpants for Duncan. She then pulled out two t-shirts and handed them each one. 

“Here,” she said to them, “they’ll be a bit big but at least they’re clean. If you bring me your dirty clothes, we can throw them in the washer.” The two children nodded, said soft “thank you”s and waited for them to close the door to change. The Baudelaires and Olivia went back to the living room. Olivia reached into the bag she had left on the ground the previous night and grabbed “The Incomplete History of Secret Organizations”, which she handed to Klaus. “Here,” she said gently, “this is what Larry wanted to give you at Prufrock Prep. I’m sorry it took so long.” Klaus shook his head in wonder, and he and Violet looked at each other wide-eyed as they held the book. 

“Wa!” Sunny exclaimed. 

“I hope this answers all of our questions too, Sunny.” Violet replied, kissing her sister’s head. 

The Quagmires came back into the living room, handing Olivia their clothes. As Olivia headed to the washing machine, she heard Duncan exclaim “you got the book!”

“Just now,” Klaus replied. He looked down at the book, glossy-eyed. “I’m so sorry we couldn’t stop Olaf sooner, Quagmires. We never wanted you mixed up in this.”

“Oh, Klaus,” Duncan said gently, “it’s not your fault. You never wanted to be mixed up in this either. We’re all safe, that’s what matters.” 

Klaus nodded, but he still didn’t look down. Isadora and Duncan climbed on the couch with the Baudelaires and they all clung together, not speaking.

Olivia gave them some time to themselves, but a few minutes later she asked if any of them were hungry. They all nodded.

“Okay,” she said. “let me see what Jacquelyn has.”

She found canned spaghetti sauce and noodles, so she asked if spaghetti would be alright. The children agreed, so she set to work making dinner, thankful she had an excuse to be near them without invading. As she cooked, the older children flipped through the book, murmuring and taking notes in their commonplace books. Sunny walked over to Olivia in the kitchen. “Hep?”

Olivia smiled at her and pulled a chair over to the counter for Sunny to stand on. “I would love your help, Sunny, thank you. I am so glad you like to cook. Although our meal tonight won’t give you much room for creativity, I’m afraid.”

“Nud tie” Sunny responded. 

“Yes, certainly another time! We have plenty of time to try all the recipes in the world together now that you’re all safe.”

The other children came to the kitchen and sat down at the table. “Olivia?” Violet asked, “What will happen to us now?” 

Olivia sighed, and gave Sunny the spoon to stir the pasta. She went to sit with them. “Well, Baudelaires, I suppose we will have to find Jerome and determine if he had anything to do with his wife’s plan, and if he will be a sufficient guardian for you three, if you still want to live with him. And Quagmires, I know that while you are technically supposed to return to Prufrock, I think in light of what happened I can convince Mr. Poe to not make you return there. Unless, of course, you would like to return there?” 

Duncan and Isadora shook their heads. “No! We never want to go there again. Besides maybe to get our stuff.” 

Olivia smiled and nodded. “Alright then. Quagmires, you can come live with me as soon as this is all over if you’re comfortable with that. Baudelaires, if for some reason Jerome Squalor doesn’t work out, you three will come live with me as well. Again, only if that’s what you want.

The Quagmires nodded happily, as did the Baudelaires. “We would all like that very much. But Olivia, will you be able to support all of us? I doubt Prufrock paid well and we don’t want you to worry at our expense. We won’t be able to help out until we’re older and can either get jobs or access our parents’ fortunes” Violet said, the concern evident in her voice.

Olivia gave the children a sad smile. “You don’t need to worry about that one bit. When I was about your age, I lost my parents in a terrible fire, just like you did. They left my sister and I a fortune that is basically still untouched. My sister disappeared when she was 19, and is assumed dead. I never really had a reason to use the money.” Her smile broadened, and her eyes were warm as she looked at the children. “Until now, that is.”

They all smiled back, and Violet rested a hand on top of Olivia’s. 

“Din dun!” Sunny shrieked, and they all rushed over to help serve the pasta and carry it back to the table. Sunny crawled up onto Olivia’s lap to eat so she could actually reach the table. They ate in companionable silence, and Klaus and Duncan offered to do the dishes after the meal. 

Olivia changed the laundry and went to Violet, Isadora, and Sunny, who were sitting on the ground reading the book again. “Girls, I need your help. How should we set up sleeping arrangements tonight?”

“Hmm,” Violet hummed, tying up her hair with her ribbon, “will Jacquelyn be home tonight?”

Olivia frowned. “I’m not sure.”

“We should plan out a spot for her just in case.” Isadora chimed in. 

“I agree. Okay, well the couch can fit two people, three if Sunny is one of them.” Violet replied.

“And the bed can probably fit three people, four if Sunny is one of them.”

“Okay, so that covers six of us. We need one more spot.”

Olivia joined the discussion now. ‘How about the Baudelaires take the bed, the Quagmires take the couch, and I’ll take the floor? Jacquelyn can sleep on the floor with me if she comes home tonight. That way no one will be too crowded.”

“Oh, Olivia, are you sure? We don’t want you to be uncomfortable for us.”

“Please, Violet, I am happy to do it. I’ll be more comfortable with you all here with me, knowing you’re safe, than I have been since I learned what had happened to you.” Violet and Isadora smiled at her, eyes misty but for a happy reason for once. 

“Could you help me make the beds?” All three girls nodded and went to the bedroom, collecting extra pillows and blankets from the closet. They carried them back to the living room and laid two pillows and a blanket on the couch, and laid a thick blanket down on the floor off to the side, near the doorway but out of the path that the door would take should it open. They set an additional blanket and a pillow on top of the first. By the time they were done, everyone was yawning, even Klaus and Duncan as they finished up the dishes. 

“Baudelaires, do you need something to sleep in?”

Klaus shrugged. “If there is anything. If not, we can sleep in these.” Violet nodded in agreement.

“Okay. Well let me see if we have anything here, I’ll be right back.”

As she left, Violet and Isadora smirked at each other because she had said ‘we’ instead of ‘Jacquelyn’. The girls weren’t sure what was going on between the two women, but they knew it had to be something.

Olivia searched through Jacquelyn’s drawers once again, coming up with a pair of running shorts that seemed like they should fit Violet. She remembered that she had packed a pair of basketball shorts just in case, which she reached into her suitcase and grabbed for Klaus. She grabbed two more t-shirts (she wasn’t really sure why Jacquelyn had so many) and a wife-beater style tank top that she figured would be like a nightgown for Sunny. As she turned to leave, she changed her mind and went to the dresser again. She ran her hand along the side until she found a tiny indent, which she pressed on. The compartment she had seen Jacquelyn use last night slid open, and inside sat the gun and the knife. She hesitated, nervous, but grabbed the weapon anyways. She triple-checked that the safety was engaged before sliding the gun into the waist of her pants, covering it with her shirt. Satisfied, she closed the compartment once again and returned to the living room. The children, or rather 4 teenagers and 1 child, were sitting on the couch looking exhausted.

“Here you go, Baudelaires.” she said, handing each of them the stuff she had picked out. “Hopefully this will do.”

“It will do just fine, Olivia, thank you.” Klaus replied. Everyone said their goodnights, and the Baudelaires headed back to Jacquelyn’s bedroom, closing the door behind them. The Quagmires settled down on the couch and Olivia crawled into her bed on the floor. She felt the coolness of the gun pressing into her hip, but she left it. She wanted it ready if someone unwelcome came to join the slumber party.

It wasn’t until all the children stopped tossing and turning that she allowed herself to relax enough to drop off into a fitful sleep. She found herself very thankful she was a light sleeper when she heard the lock whir to life at around 3 am. She jumped up and ran over to the Quagmires. 

She shook them awake. “Go into Jacquelyn’s bedroom.” she whispered urgently. “Lock yourselves in. Someone is at the door, and if they are an enemy I want you all as protected as you can be. Don’t come out until I come get you.” They nodded and scrambled down the hallway. Olivia crouched down behind the couch, just as she had with Jacquelyn the night before. She pulled out the gun and flicked off the safety as the last phrase was being typed in. She peeked out from behind the couch on the side that the light from the open doorway wouldn’t hit, and held the gun at the ready. The door swung in. A man and a woman entered, looking worse-for-wear. Olivia reengaged the safety and leapt up. 

“Jacquelyn! Larry!”

“O-Olivia?” Jacquelyn croaked. Olivia crossed to them quickly, pulling them inside and wrapping her arms around Jacquelyn tightly. Jacquelyn reached up and held her back, hands shaking. 

“Are you two alright? What happened?”

“Olaf- Olaf is dead. He burned down the VFD headquarters in the Valley of Four Drafts with us all in it, but we managed to escape. He didn’t.”

“He’s dead? You’re certain?”

“Yes. We watched him pass out from the smoke inhalation, and the building collapsed around him.”

Olivia let out a shaky breath. “Well. As awful as it is, I suppose at some point we all must burn in our own fires. It’s high time his reign of terror was over, at any rate. The children are all here, but I’ll let you break the news to them later on.” She flipped the light on. “Let me look at you. Are either of you hurt?” 

Larry shook his head. There was soot all over him, and he had a bruise on his cheek, but besides that he looked fine. “Jacquelyn has a burn,” he said, voice hoarse. 

“Okay. Larry, why don’t you get cleaned up. Jacquelyn, come sit down and let me look at you.” Larry left without responding, and Jacquelyn just allowed herself to be led to a kitchen chair. “Where did you get burned, love?”

“My shoulder.” Olivia looked and sure enough, there was a section of shirt that had been melted away, revealing a red and black burn that covered a good few inches of her skin. “Okay, Jacquelyn, we need to get this shirt off of you. I’m going to go get Violet and Isadora to help, alright?”

Jacquelyn nodded, lips in a thin line. Olivia placed a soft kiss to her forehead and walked back to the bedroom. She knocked on the door softly. “Children? It’s me. You can open the door.” A few seconds later, there was a click as the door was unlocked and opened. She went in and shut it most of the way behind her. “It’s just Larry and Jacquelyn. Larry is getting washed up, but Jacquelyn is hurt. Boys, can you stay in here? Girls, I need your help again.” The children all nodded and Olivia led Violet and Isadora out to the living room, Sunny opting to stay snuggled up to her brother and Duncan, half-asleep already now that she knew it was safe.

Violet gasped softly when she saw Jacquelyn sitting there. She strained to remember the basic first aid from the class she had taken a few years back. Tying her hair up, she walked over to get a closer look. “Hi, Jacquelyn.” she said softly, going around to her back to look at the damage. 

“Hello Violet. And you must be Isadora,” Jacquelyn said, voice still scratchy.

“Yes, ma’am. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m going to get you some water, alright?”

Jacquelyn nodded weakly. “Okay, Violet, I need your help getting her blouse off.” Olivia said to her. 

Violet nodded. “We need to cut it. We can’t risk damaging the burn more by trying to pull her shirt up.” 

Isadora had heard this, and when she returned from the kitchen she handed Jacquelyn a glass of water and Olivia a pair of scissors. Violet pulled an extra ribbon out of her pocket. Gently, she tied Jacquelyn’s hair up out of the way. Olivia smiled at Violet thankfully. Making her way over to where Violet stood behind Jacquelyn, Olivia inspected the item of clothing. “Should I start at the bottom?”

“Yes,” Violet replied, “and make sure you are careful to avoid touching her skin. If it gets too close to the burn, we can try another angle so we don’t irritate it more than we have to.” Olivia nodded and set to work. Isadora stood off to the side, trying to watch Jacquelyn’s face for pain without being too obvious and embarrass her. Thankfully, all went smoothly and a minute or so later Olivia handed Violet the scissors and carefully peeled off Jacquelyn’s shirt, letting it stay on her arms so her front was still mostly covered. “Jacquelyn, do you have any burn cream here?” Violet asked, coming to kneel in front of her. 

“Yes,” Jacquelyn responded, voice a bit stronger now that she had had some water to soothe her scorched throat. “In the first aid kit in the bedroom closet. Highest shelf.”

Violet and Isadora left quickly to retrieve it. Olivia kneeled in front of Jacquelyn, placing a hand on her knee. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she whispered.

Jacquelyn set a weak hand on Olivia’s cheek. “Me too.”

Violet and Isadora were returning with the kit, so Olivia gently squeezed Jacquelyn’s knee and stood up. “Isadora, could you wet a washcloth with warm water please?” Olivia asked. 

“Of course,” the girl responded as she walked over to the kitchen and did so. She returned quickly, handing Olivia a rag. Violet, who had been searching through the first aid kit, pulled out gauze and burn cream. 

“Jacquelyn, would you like me or Olivia to work on your burn? There is only one pair of gloves here.”

“You please, Violet.” Jacquelyn reached her hand out to Olivia who took it, once again kneeling in front of her. Violet went to the sink and washed her hands before donning the latex gloves, coming back to grab the washcloth from Olivia. 

“Okay Jacquelyn, I’m sorry but this is going to hurt. I’ll try to be fast. Isadora, come hold this flashlight on the burn please.” Isadora did so, and Olivia stayed in front of Jacquelyn, looking her in the eyes. 

“Let me tell you about my adventures with Jacques this morning. It was a crazy day. You know VFD has a store called “Various Fair-priced Doodads? What’s up with that?” Jacquelyn laughed, hissing as Violet began cleaning the burn. “I went in there, and I swear, the old man reminded me of my math teacher in high school.” Olivia made her voice high and nasally. “Ms. Callahan, please put that book away and come take this integral on the board. Yes, yes, Caliban, sorry. Maybe I would remember your name if you would ever get your face out of your books for longer than 30 seconds.” They went on like this as Violet continued rubbing the debris out of her wound, Jacquelyn squeezing Olivia’s hand tightly whenever it began to hurt more. Olivia knew that this attempt at distraction couldn’t be doing much, but she figured anything was better than leaving Jacquelyn alone with her thoughts while she was in pain.

As Violet began gently slathering the would in the burn cream, Olivia was telling Jacquelyn about the ‘get lucky in the penthouse’ conversation. Jacquelyn’s eyebrow lifted, and her nostrils flared. “He said that to you?” she asked incredulously. “I’ll take him right now.” 

Olivia gasped, trying not to laugh as she could tell that Jacquelyn was quite serious. “Woah, no, it’s okay. He had no idea we were... involved. And he didn’t try to do anything. But it’s good to know you’re willing to fight a man for my honor.”

Jacquelyn smirked. “I would fight a man for far less. I have a degree in welterweight boxing.”

Olivia coughed. “You.. what? Really?!”

“Mmhmm. I spent years training.”

“That is… unexpected.”

Just then, Violet and Isadora finished taping up the burn. “All set!” Violet said, a tinge of humor left in her voice from the conversation she had overheard. She and Isadora shared a glance, and Olivia stuck her tongue out at them. The girls laughed. 

“Jacquelyn, you and Olivia will take the bed. You need somewhere comfortable to sleep so you can heal. If Larry is staying, he can take the couch. We can sleep on the floor.” Violet said, collecting the plastic wrappers from the gauze.

“Violet, I don’t want you to sleep on the floor. I’ll be fine.”

Violet came to where she could see her. She smiled, but her voice was fierce when she said “Jacquelyn, I wasn’t suggesting. I was informing. Your health and safety is far more important than our comfort. Besides, we’ve slept in far worse places.” Isadora nodded hard.

Jacquelyn rolled her eyes, but smiled at the eldest Baudelaire and her friend. “Okay. Thank you girls. I am truly lucky to be in your care.” 

Violet’s smile widened. “It’s the least we could do. Let me go get the boys out of the room. Isadora, could you knock on the bathroom door and check on Larry?” The girls left again.

Olivia smiled after them lovingly. “Those kids really are something, aren’t they?”

“They certainly are. I hope their next guardians are more competent than the last several.”

“That depends. Do you consider me competent?”

Jacquelyn’s eyes widened. “You’ll be their next guardian?”

“I plan to adopt the Quagmires for sure, the Baudelaires too if Jerome Squalor is deemed unfit or if he no longer wants to be their guardian.”

Jacquelyn looked at her incredulously, shaking her head. “You never fail to surprise me, Olivia Caliban.”

All the children trudged down the hall toward the women, Larry in tow. “He was asleep against the tub,” Isadora said. “Here Larry, lie on the couch. Let me get you some water.”

“The bed is all yours,” Klaus said sleepily as he carried Sunny over to the blankets on the floor.

“Thank you all so much. Do try to get some rest tonight.” Jacquelyn said, voice much stronger now. 

The children all nodded. They said their goodnights. Violet set the extra pillows and blankets she had grabbed down on the ground and went over to the women. “I’ll need to look at your wound again in the morning. It’s a second degree, at least. Try to sleep on your stomach, okay? I don’t want you irritating it more than necessary.” Jacquelyn nodded, and Violet leaned over and set a hand on her arm. “We’re glad you’re back, Jacquelyn.” Without waiting for a response, she turned and went to help Duncan lay out the extra blankets and pillows. Klaus and Sunny were already sleeping again, and Isadora was almost out. Olivia smiled at them, and as soon as they were settled in she flicked off the light and walked Jacquelyn to the bedroom.

She pulled back the covers for her, covering her body up to the middle of her back when she had settled in. She turned their light off and climbed in next to her. She waited a few moments, but Jacquelyn didn’t speak. 

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Olivia asked softly, resting her hand on the small of Jacquelyn’s back. 

Jacquelyn took in a shaky breath. “Not yet.”

“Okay. Take as much time as you need, lovely. I’m not going anywhere.” 

Jacquelyn turned her face toward Olivia’s. “I don’t deserve you.” she said quietly.

“Oh, Jacquelyn. You deserve far better.”

“There is no one better for me, Olivia. You’ve done so much more for me in the past few days than you could know.”

“Well I’m glad to hear that. I plan to have many more days with you, so you’d better get used to it.” 

Jacquelyn smiled and leaned as far as she could toward Olivia without hurting her shoulder, and Olivia met her in the middle for a soft kiss. 

“Get some sleep, Jacquelyn. I’ll be here if you need me, okay? Let me know if there is anything at all I can do.”

“I will. Goodnight Olivia.”

“Goodnight,” Olivia answered, kissing Jacquelyn’s forehead gently.

They drifted off into a restful sleep, feeling truly content for the first time in longer than they could remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back on my bullshit!!!!! Thanks for reading everyone. Let me know if you have any thoughts, ideas, etc.!


	4. Of Shopping and Secretaries

Olivia awoke early the next morning despite not getting much sleep. She looked over at Jacquelyn, who seemed to be resting well. Content, Olivia got out of bed and found some clothes to put on. She braided her hair in one long plait down her back, brushed her teeth, and headed out to check on everyone else. Klaus and Isadora were sitting at the table, reading through two books they must have found on Jacquelyn’s shelf. Violet, Sunny, and Duncan all slept soundly on the floor. Larry was no longer on the couch. 

Olivia stepped over to Klaus and Isadora. “Good morning. Do you know where Larry went?” 

“Good morning,” Klaus replied. “He went to pick up some breakfast. He left about 20 minutes ago, so he should be here soon.”

Olivia nodded and went into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee (Lord knew everyone needed it). Just as Klaus promised, before Olivia could even finish measuring out the coffee grounds, Larry came back in, arms full of paper bags. Before Olivia even had a chance to move, Klaus and Isadora had leapt up and relieved Larry of his burden, carrying it all over to the table. 

“I bought pastries, as well as eggs, bacon, and other ingredients for us to cook.”

“Thank you Larry! Klaus, should we wake up your sister so she has the chance to cook a proper meal?” Olivia asked.

“Oh yes! She would love that, I think.” Klaus headed over to the pile of blankets that was the rest of the children and woke his young sister. Unsurprisingly, she lit up as soon as she heard why she had been disturbed and lifted her arms so her brother could carry her to the kitchen.

“Good morning, Sunny! Larry has gotten us lots of ingredients to use for breakfast. Why don’t you take a look at them and let me know what you think?” Olivia said, smiling at the young chef.

Sunny nodded and Klaus stood her on a chair so that she could look through the many paper bags. “Omelette!” She shrieked happily. 

“Oh, omelettes do sound wonderful! How about Klaus and Isadora take everyone’s orders while you and Larry prepare the ingredients, and I’ll go wake Jacquelyn.”

Isadora pulled out her commonplace book. “If you would like an omelette today, Klaus and Isadora are on their way!”

“You are an amazing poet, Isadora. I would love to talk poetry with you sometime soon.” Isadora’s eyes lit up and she nodded emphatically at Olivia. Olivia grinned at her and headed back toward the bedroom. Jacquelyn still lay peacefully. 

Olivia went to her and gently set a hand on her back, far from her burn. “Good morning, beautiful. It’s time to get up. Sunny and Larry are making breakfast, and Violet will want to check on your burn soon.”

Jacquelyn groaned but smiled up at her. “Hey, you.” 

Olivia laughed. “Hey. Did you hear anything I just said?”

“Mmm… no. Something about breakfast?”

“Yes, Sunny and Larry are making breakfast. And Violet will be coming in to check your burn soon. Why don’t we get you into something that makes it more accessible? That way you won’t have to be naked.”

“You love me being naked.” a smirking Jacquelyn replied.

Olivia laughed again. “Jacquelyn, you’re such a flirt! I mean, of course I do. You have an incredible body. But maybe a more private time would be better for such things.”

Jacquelyn grinned at her. “Fair enough. Okay, can I wear your tank top from the other night? It should still be on the floor.”

“Sure.” Olivia grabbed it for her and Jacquelyn slowly sat up, wincing at how the skin around her burn pulled. Olivia carefully helped Jacquelyn pull it over her head, not bothering to put her damaged arm in the strap. Just then, there was a soft knock on the door. “Come in!” answered Olivia.

Violet pushed open the door, carrying the first aid kit.

“Good morning! Do you mind if I look at your burn now, Jacquelyn?”

“Good morning Violet. Not at all, come on over.”

Olivia brushed a piece of hair out of Jacquelyn’s eyes. “Will you and Violet be okay alone? There are some phone calls I’d like to make.” 

Jacquelyn smiled, grabbing her hand. “Of course. You can go in the hallway if you would like some privacy, just make sure you check around first to make sure no one is lurking.”

Olivia squeezed her hand and stepped away. “I will. You call if you need anything, alright?” Jacquelyn and Violet both nodded, and as Olivia left she heard Violet telling Jacquelyn that Isadora would be in to take her omelette order soon. Olivia smiled at the sight of Larry and Sunny working at the stove, and at Isadora and Klaus laying out the orders on the counter for the cooks to read. She grabbed her cell phone from her purse by the door and went out into the hallway, shutting the door firmly behind her. 

True to her promise, she checked carefully up and down the hallway before making her calls. When she was sure the coast was clear, she typed in the number of Jerome Squalor’s penthouse suite, which she had gotten out of the phone book the previous day. It rang a few times before a distraught-sounding man answered.

“Hello?” the voice said breathlessly, as if it had run to grab the phone.

“Hello, is this Jerome Squalor?”

“Yes, who is this? Is this regarding my wife?”

“This is Olivia Caliban, I was the librarian at Prufrock Prep when the Baudelaires were there. I’m afraid this has nothing to do with Esme, sir. I want to talk to you about the Baudelaires.”

“The Baudelaires? Yes, yes, what about them? I am about to leave to search for my wife, so this must be quick.”

“Mr. Squalor, your wife ran away with Count Olaf yesterday after trying to auction off two kidnapped children at the In Auction and after pushing the Baudelaires down an elevator shaft.”

“Esme did that? My Esme?”

“Yes sir, although I would be careful calling her ‘your’ Esme anymore. Yesterday she told everyone that Count Olaf was her boyfriend.”

Jerome sighed. “Yes, well, I suppose I’ll have to talk to her about that. But what will I tell the Baudelaires?”

Olivia took a deep breath. “Well, sir, I doubt the Baudelaires would be comfortable staying with you if you plan on allowing Esme back into your life. If you are not opposed, I would like the children to live with me. I will give them a good, safe life, and I will certainly bring them to visit you as much as you’d like.”

Jerome sighed. “Why would I allow someone I don’t even know to take the Baudelaires? I promised to take care of them.”

“Jerome, if you plan on searching for Esme after she has hurt them this way you will not be taking care of them. They really care about you, and they know you’re innocent in this. But the fact is, your wife is not. The children will not be willing to live with someone who has actively hurt them and their closest friends in an attempt to steal their fortune. You have to make a decision.

There was a moment of silence. “She’s my wife, Ms. Caliban. I can’t just give up on her, and regardless I don’t believe that Esme did all that. I have to talk to her. Can the Baudelaires stay with you until then, and I’ll contact you when I’ve found Esme?” 

“Certainly. I swear to you, Mr. Squalor, the children will be under the best care. Please feel free to call this number if you want to talk to them before you’ve figured everything out.”

“Thank you, Ms. Caliban. I will.” The line went dead. Olivia sighed and leaned back against the wall, exasperated. She couldn’t believe that Jerome was so willing to forgive Esme. She shook her head and dialled another number.

When a gruff man answered the phone, Olivia said “I need a house built. As soon as possible, please. I can bring in the blueprints later.” She gave the man her name in number and set her appointment for 3 pm, which would hopefully give her plenty of time to get everything else figured out.

She dialled one more time, expecting this one to be the most difficult phone call yet.

In lieu of a ‘hello’, several coughs greeted Olivia. “Hello Mr. Poe,” she said, “I apologize for calling your personal number. There is something urgent I have to speak to you about.”

Another cough answered, followed by a “Well, what is it then?”

“I would like to adopt both the Quagmire orphans and the Baudelaires if Jerome Squalor allows Esme Squalor to come back to their home. It is clear that there is no existing location or guardian that is safe enough to protect them from Count Olaf and his comrades. I have all the funds I need to care for them properly, and I plan to have a house built that is incredibly safe.”

“But what about the Academy? And that Squalton man did seem nice enough.”

“The Academy forced the children to live in a tiny, dirty shack that they called ‘The Orphan’s Shack’. That is no place for young people to grow up. And as I said, Jerome Squalor plans to continue to look for Esme Squalor, even though she was an accomplice in the Quagmire kidnapping and pushed the Baudelaires down an elevator shaft yesterday. You see, neither of these places are safe for these children, and I know that they have run out of family members. I will be their guardian, and I will protect them at all costs.”

There was a pause. “Well, I’ll have to meet you and see your financial information before I allow you to become their legal guardian, but you do sound promising. That’ll save me the trouble of finding a new guardian for these troubled children, anyways.”

“Yes, sir, of course. I am well aware of the trouble they’ve caused, and I promise that I will do all that it takes to straighten them out. How about I bring in my records today around 4?” Olivia rolled her eyes, annoyed that she had to play along with a fool who thinks these children caused any trouble at all.

“That’ll do.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll see you soon.”

Mr. Poe hung up without a goodbye. Shaking her head again, but in considerably better spirits, Olivia headed back to Jacquelyn’s apartment, using the retinal scan instead of the vernacularly fastened door just because she was too excited to talk to the children.

She entered the apartment, and saw that everyone was gathered around the kitchen table, eating and talking. There were so many of them that they had even pulled the couch over. Jacquelyn and Larry sat on the couch, and Jacquelyn patted the small open space next to her. Olivia sat down and thanked Sunny for the beautiful omelette that sat on her plate. Sunny babbled in response.

Jacquelyn and Larry looked at each other, and Jacquelyn cleared her throat. “Okay, everyone, there’s something Larry and I need to tell you. Last night, after we followed Olaf out of the auction house, he went all the way to the VFD headquarters located in the Mortmain Mountains. We followed them inside, and we fought. Count Olaf set the building on fire, and for awhile we fought even as the building burned. Esme escaped early, and Larry and I ran just as the building began to collapse. This burn is from a beam that fell on me during that escape. The roof fell in between us and Olaf, and we are fairly sure that he was unable to escape. We think he’s dead, survived by Esme and most or all of their associates.”

The children all looked at Jacquelyn, wide-eyed. No one spoke. Jacquelyn tried to smile, but it shook. Olivia set a hand on her knee. 

“Thank you for telling us, Jacquelyn.” Duncan said softly. 

“And for following him at all. I’m sorry you got hurt for us.” Klaus said, looking down. The rest of the children looked down as well. 

“Hey. This burn? It’s nothing. If Count Olaf is really dead, you all are safer than you were 24 hours ago. That’s worth so much more than a little burn.” Jacquelyn replied fiercely.

“Baudelaires, Quagmires, our organization may not be as noble as it once was, but we are all taught that you must be willing to die for what you believe in. We believe in you. All three of us,” Larry said, tilting his head to indicate Jacquelyn and Olivia, “would do anything for you guys, okay? And I don’t tell you this because I want you to feel guilty, or to feel that you owe us something. It’s our jobs.” Olivia and Jacquelyn nodded.

“Okay.” Violet replied. “But still, thank you. We haven’t felt this safe in quite some time.”

“Of course. And with that, I have some news,” Olivia said. “Just now, I spoke to Jerome Squalor. He plans on looking for Esme.” Sunny slapped a hand to her forehead. “I know. I don’t understand it either. But at any rate, he agreed to let you Baudelaires stay with me until he can speak to Esme, and then we’ll talk about your situation. But I also spoke to Mr. Poe. I am going to the bank at 4 pm to bring him my financial records, but so far things look promising. If all goes well, by the end of the day I’ll be the Quagmire’s official guardian and the official back up guardian for the Baudelaires.” The way the children smiled at her made her heart hurt, but in a good way. Like it was almost too full. It was unfair that the children had had to go through so much to get here, but she was grateful they were here nonetheless.

“Alright, is everyone finished eating?” Isadora asked cheerily. At everyone’s nod, the children all got up and began to clear the table and do the dishes. Olivia turned to the other two adults in the room. “What time must you two go to work?”

“I have to be in at 10, so I’ll be leaving at about 9:40.” Jacquelyn responded. 

“I don’t have any waiter shifts today, but there are other things I must do. I’ll be leaving very shortly.” said Larry. Olivia nodded.

The clock read 8:45. “Do you need help getting ready for work?” Olivia asked Jacquelyn.

Jacquelyn thought for a moment, and sighed. “You’ll probably need to help me into my shirt, yes.” She stood up and Olivia followed, both wishing Larry well since he would probably be gone by the time they were done. They headed back into the bedroom and closed the door. Jacquelyn looked into her closet, thinking. “Actually, I think I’ll wear a button up, so I should be alright. I’d still like you to stay, though.”

Olivia smiled. “Okay. So I talked to a contractor, and I’m going to go in to give them the blueprints for the house I want built later this afternoon.”

“Blueprints? What blueprints?” Jacquelyn asked as she carefully pulled on her bra. 

“Well, they don’t exist yet. I’m going to draw them up with the children’s help, and yours if you’d like.” 

“Olivia, this is a big commitment. You’re adopting between two and five children. Are you sure you’ve thought this through?”

Olivia frowned, disappointed that Jacquelyn thought it was even necessary to ask that. “Of course. At any rate, there isn’t much to think through. I won’t allow the children to grow up like this when I have more than enough resources to take care of them. I once heard the quote, ‘be the person you needed when you were younger’. That’s what I plan to do. I know how hard losing your parents and jumping from guardian to guardian is, even without being chased by a dangerous villain. I am the only one left of my family, Jacquelyn, just as the Baudelaires and Quagmires are the only ones left of theirs. If we stick together, we can make a new family. They deserve that.”

Jacquelyn looked at her carefully. “I didn’t know you were orphaned. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Olivia shook her head. “When would I have told you? ‘Hello, nice to meet you, my parents died in a terrible fire when I was a child and my sister disappeared a few years later and is assumed dead’ isn’t the best introduction, and after we met we didn’t have much time for talking.”

“You’re right Olivia, I’m sorry. You’re far braver than I am, and I would do well to stop underestimating you. You’ll be a wonderful guardian for those children.”

“Thank you, Jacquelyn.” There was a nervous pause. Olivia squeezed her hands together in front of her. “Okay. So I know that these next few months are going to be crazy, but I want you to know that I really do care for you, and I really enjoy being around you. If you’re willing to be part of this ride with me, I’d love to start a relationship with you. Properly.”

Jacquelyn smiled softly. “Olivia, are you asking me to be your girlfriend?”

“Yes. But we can start slow. I’d love your help designing the house, but I don’t expect you to live in it now, or ever if you don’t want to. I just want to be able to take you out to dinner and hold your hand and kiss you and say that I’m dating Jacquelyn Scieszka, the most beautiful, badass woman in the City.”

Jacquelyn came over to rest a hand on Olivia’s cheek. “I would love to be your girlfriend, Olivia Caliban. And I would also love to start slow. Honestly, I’ve never even considered having kids before, so hopping into a relationship with someone who is about to have multiple is a scary thought to me.”

“I understand. I’m glad you’re willing to give this a chance.”

“Me too.” Jacquelyn murmured as she leaned up to kiss Olivia gently, hand still cupping her cheek. Olivia kissed her back, gently running a hand down her spine and resting it at the small of her back. They continued kissing softly for a few moments, but eventually they broke away and just rested their foreheads together. Olivia kissed the tip of Jacquelyn’s nose. 

“Alright, lovely, you should probably finish getting ready for work, and I should go talk to the kids about the house. Call if you need help, alright?” 

“Of course.” Jacquelyn kissed Olivia one more time and turned to head to the bathroom, where all her makeup and hair supplies were. Olivia couldn’t stop smiling, and she realized that right now, there was no reason to. She walked out to find the children all gathered around the table, kitchen completely clean. 

“Okay, everyone, I need all of your help. We need to design our new house.”

“We’re having a house built?” Violet asked incredulously.

“We certainly are. My family’s property was cleared out after the fire, so I think we’ll build it there. It’s just outside of the City; close enough that you all will be able to attend a good school but far enough out that we won’t be directly in the hustle and bustle. Does that sound alright?” The children all nodded animatedly. “Great! In that case, let’s get to work. I have a large notebook, we can sketch everything out there.” She went to grab it, and laid it out on the table in front of Violet. “Violet, as such a wonderful inventor, I figured you’d be the girl for the job of diagramming.”

Violet’s face flushed at the compliment. “Sure, I can do that. Everyone gather around.” Everyone scooted their chairs closer and they gathered around one side of the table, Sunny reaching up to ask Olivia to hold her where she stood behind Violet.

“Okay. Where should we start?” Klaus asked.

“Why don’t we start by figuring out how many rooms we want and of what type? Then we can design the actual set up.” Isadora answered.

“I second that idea,” Duncan said. Sunny screeched in agreement.

“Alright,” Violet said, “how many bedrooms?”

“Well, I want all of you to have your own bedrooms, or at least have them in case you want them. So 7 bedrooms, that’ll be one for each of us plus a guest room.” Violet wrote that down. 

“Okay. What about bathrooms?”

“Well,” Duncan answered, “we should probably have one for every two or three of us. So maybe three full bathrooms and one half that can connect to the family room?”

“Hmm, what about two half baths? It would be nice to have one near the library as well.”

All the children turned to smile at her. “Oh, a library!” Klaus exclaimed. That’ll be so wonderful.” 

Violet wrote down ‘3 full baths, 2 half, 1 library, 1 family room’. 

“Kitchen!” cried Sunny. Violet wrote it down. 

“I’d like a home office.” Olivia said, as Violet wrote. “And Violet, how about we build you a separate little shed where you can store all your inventing supplies? That way you’ll have a decent workspace as well.” 

“I would love that, Olivia, thank you so much! But what if we live with Jerome? That would be such a waste.” 

“Not at all, Violet. You can still come visit and use the room whenever you’d like. That goes for all three of you Baudelaires. Does anyone else need a special room?” The other children shook their heads. 

“As long as my room has a desk, I can write my poetry there,” Isadora said.

“I’ll do all my reading in the library,” stated Klaus. 

“And I’ll do my writing in the library,” mirrored Duncan.

“Kitchen!” Sunny said again.

Everyone laughed. Just then, there was a click and a flash from across the room. Everyone’s heads snapped up to see Jacquelyn holding a camera and biting her lip to hide her smile. “Sorry everyone. I didn’t realize the flash was on. You all just looked so happy, I wanted to capture it.” 

“That’s okay, darling. I’m glad we have a picture now. Come here and tell us if you can think of things to add to the house!”

Jacquelyn walked over, smiling at Olivia’s nickname for her. Violet and Isadora turned around to wiggle their eyebrows at Olivia suggestively. Olivia groaned, but she was smiling. “Stop it, you two!” They turned back around, but their shoulders shook with silent laughter.

“You should have a small greenhouse. A greenhouse is a good addition to any home.” Jacquelyn said as she looked over the list of rooms so far. Violet nodded and added it to the list. “That’s all I can think of. You all are very thorough. I’m going to head out a couple minutes early so I can stop for coffee.” 

Violet turned to her. “How does your shoulder feel?” As she spoke, she reached out to take her sister back. Sunny settled on her lap.

“It stings, but it could be worse.”

“Take some ibuprofen with you, alright? And call if you need your bandages changed, or if your burn starts hurting more just call and I’ll come right away.”

“Okay Violet, thank you.” Violet nodded and turned back to the paper. 

Jacquelyn grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen and threw it in her purse, and walked over to slip on her shoes. Olivia went with her to the door. “Be safe today. We’ll be in to see Mr. Poe this afternoon, so we’ll see you then.”

“Okay. You all be safe too.” Olivia leaned in to kiss her goodbye, and Jacquelyn left. 

She went back to the table and helped the kids make a rough draft of their new home.

\-----

It was a long time before they had something they were all pleased with, but a few hours later they were done. They all got ready for the day (the Quagmires in their uniforms and the Baudelaires in their pinstripe suits) and headed out for lunch and shopping. Olivia wanted them out of those awful clothes as soon as possible. 

They stopped at the cafe she and Jacquelyn had eaten breakfast at the day before (though it felt like a lifetime ago) and they all shared a delicious lunch and some interesting conversation. 

Afterwards, they headed to a department store, and Olivia told the children to pick out 3 outfits each. She also told them to be vigilant and stay in pairs, and that she would meet them at the registers in 30 minutes. She and Sunny headed to the children’s section, Violet and Isadora to the women’s and Klaus and Duncan to the men’s.

Sunny picked out a bright yellow dress (‘It’s sunny like you!’ Olivia told her as the girl giggled), a blue and white checkered dress, and a little red plaid shirt and baby jeans. The pink dress Olivia pointed out to her was very firmly rejected, which made Olivia laugh. 

When she met back up with the older children, they all compared outfits. Violet had one nice lilac dress, a pair of jeans and a sweater, and a pair of overalls with a plain t-shirt. Isadora had two dresses and a sweater/jean combo that was just slightly different than Violet’s. Klaus and Duncan both had a set of dress clothes, and two sets of jeans and button-up shirts. Olivia laughed. “Shoot. We forgot undergarments. Everyone go grab what they need, including socks. And shoes!” They all split up again, returning a few minutes later with all that they needed. 

Olivia led them up to the checkout counter to pay. The woman rang it all up, and Olivia immediately handed her her debit card. When all that was done, the children collected their bags, Olivia took Sunny’s hand, and off they went to make their appointment with the contractor. 

“Hello,” Olivia greeted the receptionist. “I’m here to speak to Mr. Monroe. I have an appointment.” The receptionist grunted and pressed a button on her intercom. A moment later, a door opened up behind her. 

“You must be Ms. Caliban,” the man said gruffly. Come on in. There’s room for all of you if you’re alright with squeezing. 

Olivia nodded and they all followed him into the office. “Okay, sir, so I know I said I’d bring you blueprints but my associate here,” she said as she nodded at Klaus, “pointed out that what I have is not blueprints but simply a sketch. There are no dimensions or anything, just relative sizing.”

“That’s alright, we can do all that.” The man whistled as Olivia handed him the paper. “This is going to be a big job. You said you wanted it done quickly?”

“Yes sir, as quickly as possible. And if possible, we need some… special materials. I want this house to be as fireproof as possible. And I want windows and doors with only the securest of locks.” 

The man nodded and looked at Olivia strangely. “Alright,” he replied slowly. “I’ll need a $20,000 down payment, and I won’t be able to give you a grand total until I work this out with my team.”

“That’s quite alright. Is check okay?”

“Fine.” 

Olivia quickly wrote out and signed the check, handing it to the man. He made her a receipt. “Alright. I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know how we’re proceeding.” Olivia nodded, thanking him. She and the children left. 

She clapped her hands together. “Great! Now we just have to go to the bank and talk to Mr. Poe. While we’re there, please remind me to talk to Jacquelyn about whether or not she would like us to get a hotel until our place is built. She has a very small apartment for so many people.” The children agreed, and they set off toward the bank. The one thing she would miss about being directly in the city was how walkable everything was. She would have to look into cars soon.

About halfway there, Olivia saw a small coffee shop. “Does anyone know of teas that help with inflammation?” Olivia asked them.

“Many,” answered Klaus immediately. “Green tea and peppermint tea are both often praised for their anti inflammatory properties.”

“Perfect. We still have some time before my appointment. Why don’t we stop there and get ourselves drinks, as well as get a green tea for Jacquelyn?”

The children all agreed and they entered the shop. It was a modern place, with bright lights and white furniture, and with tons of plants covering the walls. They all looked around in wonder as they made their way to the counter. The menu was scanned quickly and everyone’s orders were placed. It turned out that the Baudelaires preferred tea, where the Quagmires preferred coffee. Olivia noted that for later. Olivia ordered herself a chai latte and a green tea for Jacquelyn, and she paid. They stepped to the side as they waited for their massive order (Olivia left the young girl working a big tip - she felt bad about how stressed she looked when they all ordered their own drinks). When it was finally done, they thanked her and left, walking the rest of the way to the bank. The remainder of the walk took less than 10 minutes, which they spent idly chatting about what they could eat for dinner. As they arrived at Mulctuary Money Management, Sunny wiggled until Violet put her down and reached out for Olivia to hand her the green tea.

“I give!” she said. 

“Okay, but be careful love, it’s hot still.” Sunny nodded and took it, and she led the way to Jacquelyn’s desk. Jacquelyn was typing quickly, but she looked up when she heard them approach. 

“Well what a surprise,” she said with a smile, looking down when she felt Sunny tap her leg. 

“Tea!” Sunny shrieked, and Jacquelyn took the tea and set it on her desk, reaching down to pick up the girl next. She kissed her cheek. 

“Well thank you, sweet girl!”

“It’s green tea, to help with inflammation,” Klaus explained. Jacquelyn’s smile grew. 

“Why, I must be the luckiest woman in the City. You all are so good to me. Let me call Mr. Poe and let him know you’re here.”

She pressed a button and her intercom buzzed to life. “Mr. Poe, Olivia Caliban is here to see you.” There was some static and a cough, then a ‘send her in’.

“You can all wait out here with me if you’d like. Olivia can call you in if she needs you. They all nodded, and Olivia stepped past Jacquelyn’s desk, smiling at her as she went. She headed to the back and sat down in front of Mr. Poe.

“Hello Mr. Poe,” Olivia said to the man. 

“Hello. You were at the auction yesterday, weren’t you?”

“Yes. An associate and I had just rescued the Baudelaires from a net in the elevator shaft at 667 Dark Avenue, and we all went to save the Quagmires. They’re all here and safe, with Jacquelyn up front.”

“Ah, yes. Jacquelyn is a competent secretary, they should be fine with her for a bit.”

Olivia nodded, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. Jacquelyn was so much more than a competent secretary, and for some reason it felt humorous that Mr. Poe didn’t know that. She cleared her throat and pulled out a file. “Here is my most recent bank statement, as well as the receipt for the down payment on the house that I am having built for the children and I to live in.” 

Mr. Poe’s eyebrows raised as he read the numbers. He coughed. “Well! You have a, uh, very fine savings account, I see!” 

Olivia nodded, unsure what she was supposed to say to that. 

“Well,” Mr. Poe continued, “as long as you are willing to stay in communication with me about the Jerome Squalor situation and about their progress in general than I suppose you’ll do well enough for their next guardian. Here. Sign this paperwork for the Quagmire twins, and this one for the Baudelaires. The Baudelaire sheet is temporary guardianship of course, you may fill out the permanent sheet if and when Jerome Squalor wants to officially be rid of the Baudelaires.”

Olivia’s nostrils flared both at the use of ‘twins’ and at ‘rid’. She held her tongue, however, and tried to paste on a smile as she made quick work of the papers. She handed them back to Mr. Poe and he returned her files. “Best of luck, Ms. Callahan. I look forward to hearing from you soon.” Olivia gave him a tight-lipped smile and nodded, rolling her eyes once she turned away. She quickly returned to the other room, where Sunny was helping Jacquelyn with paperwork and the other children were watching.

“Sec!” Sunny exclaimed, which Klaus explained meant something like ‘working as a secretary with Jacquelyn is much more pleasant than working for vice principal Nero at Prufrock Prep’. Jacquelyn smiled. 

“You’re welcome to come in here and help as often as you’d like, Sunny.” Sunny turned from her spot on the secretary’s lap and gave her a toothy grin. Jacquelyn stuck her tongue out in return, which made Sunny laugh.

Olivia wished ardently that she had brought Jacquelyn’s camera with her. Either way, she figured, she would remember Jacquelyn’s smile for a long time. She went over to them and set a hand on Jacquelyn’s good shoulder. 

“Okay, so the down payment on the house has been made, and everything is set with Mr. Poe for now. Now the question is, do you want us to stay with you or grab a hotel for the next little bit? I assume it’ll probably be a few months at least, and you have a fairly small apartment.” 

“Why don’t you stay with me for now, and we can look for a temporary place for you all. I want to make sure you’ll be in a good, safe place before I let you go.” 

Olivia smiled at her. “Okay, if you’re sure. What sounds good for dinner? We’re stuck between burgers and pizza.”

“Let’s make burgers! I have a wonderful recipe I’d love to teach Sunny.”

“That sounds great. For now, we’ll let you work. We’ll see you at home in an hour or two.”

Jacquelyn rolled her eyes. “This sure doesn’t feel like work. But that sounds good.”

“Stay?” Sunny asked Jacquelyn.

“Sunny, why don’t we leave Jacquelyn to work for now. We’ll see her at home in a few hours.” answered Violet, sounding embarrassed that her sister asked.

“Oh no, it’s alright. She can stay. I’d like the company. Sunny and I will stop by the market when we’re done here, and then we’ll meet you right back at home.” 

Violet smiled uncertainly. “Okay, if you’re sure she won’t be too much trouble.”

“No trouble at all! She’s a wonderful assistant. You all go and relax. Olivia, you still have my library card. Maybe you can take everyone to pick out a few books.”

Olivia grinned at the way all of the older children looked at her hopefully. “That’s a great idea, Jacquelyn. We’ll see you soon.” 

Everyone said their goodbyes, and they left for the library.

“Alright doll,” Jacquelyn said when they were gone. “Would you like me to teach you how to copy data into Excel?”

\-----

Two hours later, the apartment door opened and Jacquelyn walked in, holding grocery bags in one arm and Sunny in the other.

All of the other children and Olivia sat either on the couch or on an air mattress they must have picked up on the way home, reading the books they had gotten from the library. “Honey, we’re home!” Jacquelyn exclaimed in a sing-song voice. Everyone laughed, and Violet hopped up to help Jacquelyn with the bags. “The burn feels okay right now, but I’d like you to look at it after dinner,” Jacquelyn said to Violet before she had a chance to ask. Violet nodded and took the groceries to the kitchen.

Olivia stood up for long enough to kiss Sunny hello on the forehead and Jacquelyn hello on the mouth before flopping back down next to Duncan on the air mattress (this caused the boy to fly up an inch or two, laughing) and returning to her book. Jacquelyn smiled fondly and shook her head. “Alright, Sunny, let’s go make some burgers!” Sunny clapped her hands as Jacquelyn carried her into the kitchen, and they set to work mixing the ingredients into the meat that Jacquelyn claimed made the burgers so good. Within 5 minutes of the burgers hitting the pan, Olivia wandered over.

“Smells good,” she said.

“Thanks. I think you’ll like them. They should only be another 10 minutes or so.”

Olivia nodded. “Sunny, how was your day with Jacquelyn?”

“Good! Data!”

Olivia looked at Jacquelyn curiously, waiting for a translation. “Sunny learned how to input data in Excel today. She is a very fast learner!”

“Wow, Sunny, I can barely do that! Good for you! Maybe you can teach me soon.”

“Da!” Sunny cried.

“And how was your day?” 

“Good,” replied Jacquelyn, “but better once you came in, even better when Sunny stayed, and best now that I’m back home with you all.”

“I’m glad!”

“Me too. How was your day, lovely?”

 

“Wonderful! The children and I had a very productive day. We bought new clothes and an air mattress for them, and I put the down payment on the house.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Where will the house be built?”

“On my family’s property. It’s just outside the city.”

Jacquelyn nodded in understanding. “Gotcha. That’ll be nice.”

“It will. There’s a beautiful stream there that I think you’ll love. It’s wonderful to sit next to and just relax. I haven’t been back there in many years, but I think this’ll be just what I need to feel comfortable there again. I can never forget what happened there, but I can make new memories.”

Jacquelyn wrapped an arm around Olivia. “I’m glad you get to do that. It’s not always easy, letting in the past. You really are very brave.” Leaning into her partner, Olivia smiled. She did not respond, but she didn’t have to. 

“Tink done,” Sunny said to Jacquelyn seriously. 

“Let’s check. Have you ever used a thermometer, Sunny?” asked Jacquelyn as Olivia went to get everyone else.

“Guys, dinner should be done soon. Can you help me set the table?” 

They all popped up, carefully marking the pages in their books with scraps of paper. Olivia made a mental note to get them all proper bookmarks soon. Together, Olivia, Violet, Klaus, Isadora, and Duncan made quick work of the table, even pouring everyone drinks. They all sat down just as Jacquelyn and Sunny carried out a large plate of beef patties. 

“Dig in!” exclaimed Sunny, and everyone did. Jacquelyn took her place next to Olivia on the couch that Duncan and Violet had pulled over and sat close enough to her that she could press her leg against Olivia’s. Olivia didn’t mind - she liked being reminded that Jacquelyn was there. 

There was no conversation at dinner that night, as everyone was too engrossed in their burgers. Jacquelyn was right, they really were delicious. When they were finished eating, everyone told her just that.

Violet and Jacquelyn went to the bedroom to change her bandages, and Olivia helped the rest of the children clean up. Since Sunny had cooked, she got to sit on the table and play the drums with a metal bowl and two wooden spoons.

“Shoot!” Olivia exclaimed. “We didn’t get you guys pajamas.”

The children laughed, and it was Duncan that responded. “It’s alright Olivia. We didn’t think of it either. We can just wear our day clothes to bed, they’re plenty comfortable.” 

Everyone else agreed. “Okay. If you’re sure. We can go first thing in the morning to get you some.”

“We can walk Jacquelyn to work!” Duncan replied. 

“That’s a great idea! Maybe we can get some breakfast on the way there.”

They all nodded. 

Jacquelyn and Violet came out from the back. “How is the burn?” Klaus asked.

“It’s improving!” Jacquelyn replied cheerily. “Now, why don’t we play a game? I have Clue.”

Everyone agreed excitedly, and they all sat back down at the table while Jacquelyn grabbed the game. They argued a little about who got to be what character, but they figured it out pretty quickly. Sunny sat on Olivia’s lap, and they partnered up. It was a tense game, with a lot of careful sideways glances as everyone checked things off on their sheets under the table. When their turn was done, Olivia left Sunny to keep an eye on their cards as she stepped away to grab Jacquelyn’s camera. She snapped a few pictures of them all playing the game together (without the flash on, of course - she wasn’t one to not learn from other people’s mistakes). 

The others were so engrossed in the game that that hadn’t even seemed to notice, all except Sunny who had stuck out her tongue. Olivia was still smiling when she sat back down and lifted Sunny back onto her lap. 

Jacquelyn looked up at her. “Where’d you go?” 

“Nowhere. I’m right where I belong.” Olivia said, her smiling growing softer.

Jacquelyn smiled in response. And if they both jumped when all the children exclaimed “CLUE CARD!” together, they wouldn’t admit it. The fact that it was probably the happiest kind of scare scare they’d ever had was gone unsaid as well, but when the women made eye contact again, it was clear they were both thinking it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys I'm garbage and I have no idea where this is going but it feels really good to write so we'll just see how it goes! As always, thank you so much for your ongoing support.


	5. A Wonderful Morning

To her surprise, Jacquelyn woke up before Olivia the following morning. She leaned up on one elbow, gazing at her. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was. She was dating the most beautiful and intelligent woman she had ever met, and she got to be in the lives of five wonderful children. This still scared her, but she has been growing the past few years and it is reflected in her attitude toward this situation. Truthfully, she hasn’t had much of a choice. Watching associates die and often nearly dying yourself really tends to mature a person.

If someone so much as hit on her who had a kid a few years ago she would have panicked and run away. But, she mused, some people make things worth it. Besides, she didn’t spend so much time and energy watching over the Baudelaires to stop protecting them now. 

She shook herself out of her thoughts and reached over to softly brush some hair out of Olivia’s face. She must be a light sleeper, Jacquelyn thought as Olivia turned toward her, eyes opening sleepily.

“Hey angel,” Jacquelyn murmured, hand reaching down to rest on her arm.

Olivia smiled. “Angel?” she asked, voice still hoarse from sleep.

“Yeah. You look like an angel.”

Olivia laughed, shaking her head, but rolled toward Jacquelyn to plant a kiss on her forehead, both cheeks, and her nose, finally reaching her mouth and remaining there as they kissed softly. Finally, she pulled away. “Good morning, darling. Do you need to shower?”

“Mhmm.”

Olivia smirked and kissed her soundly. “Hopefully someday I’ll be able to join you. For now, why don’t we get ready for the day? When you get out of the shower I’ll wake the kids up so anyone who needs to can shower as well. We need to leave early today, I want to buy you all breakfast before we walk you to work.”

“Hm. Looks and acts like an angel. How did I get so lucky?”

“It wasn’t luck, Jacq. You seduced me with your wine and a library card.”

Jacquelyn laughed so loudly that she had to cover her mouth so as to not wake up the children. “I don’t regret it. It was worth it.”

“It really was.”

Jacquelyn leaned over to kiss Olivia one more time and they both crawled out of bed, Jacquelyn making her way to the bathroom and Olivia digging through her bag to find an outfit. She had to head out to her place near Prufrock Prep to get the rest of her stuff, as well as the Quagmires’. Maybe they could do that today. She didn’t really want to worry about carrying everything on the trolley, so she supposed today would be a good day to go car shopping as well. The problem was, she didn’t know anything about cars. Maybe she could see if Jacquelyn could get ahold of Jacques to give her some advice. He seemed to take good care of his taxi, at least.

She finished getting dressed, braided her hair back, and headed out to the living room to check on the children. To her surprise, they were all awake, and they all looked ready for the day, crowded together on the couch and on the air mattress.

“Good morning! You’re all up early,” Olivia said cheerily. 

Everyone but Duncan looked down, away from Olivia. He tried to smile. “Yeah. It’s, uh, hard to sleep sometimes.”

Olivia’s smile dropped instantly, and she went over, kneeling on the floor between them all. “Hey,” she said softly, looking between the children she had grown to love so much in such a short time, “I know that there’s no way I could ever understand what has happened to you. But please know that I am here to help in any way that I can. I care for you all so, so much. But you have to talk to me to allow me to do so. If you all ever want to talk about anything, come find me. Anytime of the night or day, I’m here, okay? If you have a nightmare at 4 am and can’t sleep, come wake me. We can have tea and talk about it, or just sit together and read. Whatever I can help with, I want to. I know you all haven’t had much stability in your lives since you lost your parents, but we’re all together now. And I know I can’t promise a perfectly stable future, but I promise that I will do everything that I can to provide that for you, and more importantly share it with you. I’m not going anywhere.”

By now, everyone had tears in their eyes, and Olivia opened her arms. She didn’t want to get too physical without their express consent after everything they’d been through. To her pleasant surprise, though, the children all surged forward and she found herself with her arms completely full of them.

“Thank you, Olivia” Klaus said, somewhere beneath her chin.

“Of course. Thank you all for sharing this with me. I want to be the best guardian for you I can be, and the more we talk about things like this the more we can grow together.”

“You’re already a wonderful guardian,” Isadora said. Everyone else nodded. They all pulled away, except Sunny, who seemed to be pleased to be held in Olivia’s arms for the moment. Olivia sat down the rest of the way and cradled Sunny in her lap.

“I’m glad you think so. Really, you all make my job easy. You’re incredible, hard working people and it is my absolute pleasure to be in your lives.” They all smiled at her, and she smiled back. “Okay. In other news, we have quite a few things on our to-do list for the day. If you’re all okay with it, I’d still like to get breakfast when we walk Jacquelyn to work. Then I’m planning to call Jacques Snicket to hopefully get help car shopping, and if we’re lucky enough to find a car today we can drive out to Prufrock Prep to get your belongings, Quagmires, as well as my own from the cottage I have nearby. Finally, we need to start looking for a temporary place to stay while our house is being built. Think you guys can help me with that?”

The children all nodded, but Violet held up her hand. 

“Actually, Olivia, I think we could go car shopping without Jacques. I have quite a bit of experience in automobile technology, so I would be happy to help if you’d like.” Violet said, seeming a bit uncertain near the end. It broke Olivia’s heart to think that these children’s talents had been used only to protect themselves. They should all be able to use these talents because they enjoy doing so, not in an attempt to thwart attempts on their lives.

Olivia smiled at Violet kindly. “I would love your help Violet, thank you. Shall we get started with our day?” Sunny made a loud noise of agreement. Olivia laughed. “Great! In that case, as soon as Jacquelyn is ready we can head out. I’m going to go make some tea. Does anyone want any?” Only Duncan and Violet said yes, and Olivia stood up, Sunny still on her hip. “Alright. Sunny, would you like to come help me make tea or stay in here?”

“Tea!”

Olivia kissed her forehead and took her into the kitchen, filling the kettle with water and setting it on the stove to heat. Violet and Isadora came in shortly after, leaning against the counter on either side of her.

Olivia narrowed her eyes good-naturedly. “Am I about to get the Third Degree?”

Isadora smirked. “Not quite. We’re just curious, that’s all.”

“Hmm… okay. Let’s sit down then.” 

They all sat at the kitchen table. Violet and Isadora sat side by side and steepled their fingers together, which made them look eerily similar. “So,” Isadora said, “What’s going on with you and Jacquelyn?”

Before Olivia could answer, Violet interjected, ever the empathetic one. “Unless it’s something you’d like to keep private!”

Olivia smiled at them. “No, no. It’s alright. Although I feel that I should preface this by saying that with all of the looks you give me, I think you already know the answer to this. Jacquelyn and I are dating.”

Olivia and Isadora high fived, cheering. Olivia smiled to herself, thrilled to see the two girls acting... well, normal. Two teenagers cheering about a love story was just such a normal thing, Olivia was elated that the girls finally got to have at least some normalcy in their lives. “We knew it! For how long?” Violet asked, breaking Olivia out of her reverie.

“Not long at all. In fact, we just met the day before I found you all.”

“Wow, really? It seems like you’ve known each other forever.” Isadora said, gaping.

“It does rather feel that way.”

“Olivia, do you believe in soulmates?” Duncan asked as he moved into the kitchen (apparently after overhearing their entire conversation). He poured three cups of tea and passed one to each Violet and Olivia, keeping one for himself as Olivia thought about her answer.

“Soulmates… not exactly. But I do believe that there are people that you are very compatible with, and that you find yourself caring for far more than you expected. I think this can happen in romantic and platonic ways. Romantically, I feel this with Jacquelyn, but platonically I feel this with you all. After all, I’ve only known you for a relatively short time, but I feel that we’ve known each other far longer. Further, I feel that we are all meant to be here, together, rather than anywhere apart. Does that make any sense at all?”

Duncan, a true journalist, was writing quickly in his commonplace book as Olivia spoke. It was Jacquelyn who answered, standing in the doorway with Klaus, arm over his shoulder. “That makes perfect sense. I feel that regarding all of you as well.” 

Olivia turned to smile at her, and Jacquelyn smiled back at her, at all of them, eyes full of love.

“Well, come on then!” Jacquelyn said after a moment. “Let’s go get breakfast!”

Sunny cheered and everyone else quickly stood up from the table, moving to put their shoes on. Olivia stopped near Jacquelyn both to plant a kiss on her lips and to hand Sunny over, as she had been reaching for her.

“These kids are lucky to have you, Olivia. So am I.” Jacquelyn murmured close to her face.

“And we’re lucky to have you. Now, I heard something about breakfast?” Olivia took her hand, and together they all walked out of the apartment, content.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just finished TSS and BOY do I miss Jacquelyn and Olivia. I hope this fluffy chapter helps you all cope too.


End file.
